I'm very excited for HBO Max to come out for a lot of reasons, such as the animation backlog, the HBO content itself, the originals, and being able to finally cancel my Netflix subscription once and for all. Another reason is that DC content is a major part of the Max lineup, and they're going to be treated with the kind of care and respect they deserve. First, they renewed DC Universe's best show, Doom Patrol. Second, they announced two major shows I'm looking forward to with Green Lantern and Strange Adventures (and DC Super Hero High but whatever). Plus, I'm sure the other DC Universe shows will migrate over here sooner rather than later.
I think there's finally a good platform for DC content to be delivered. HBO is a brand associated with prestige, high budget storytelling that's something more than what you can find elsewhere and a place where there are no limits in terms of what you can create. HBO Max essentially applies that, but on a wide scale. I think in the past DC has suffered from not having a good platform to work with (among other things). For the big theatrical movies, they were ran by corporate suits who had no idea what they were doing. That ended up giving us a bunch of bad movies that tanked their planned cinematic universe. For television, we only had the CW, which is a teen drama channel known for things like Gossip Girl and Vampire Diaries, and that's not ideal for DC television either. For animation, there was only Cartoon Network, and as we all know, they're gone through a lot of crap and only air the worst DC show: Teen Titans Go!. DC tried a little too soon to cut the middleman with their DC Universe app, and it's not doing so hot.
Now they have HBO Max, the platform that can finally give us a new level of quality and storytelling, with larger budgets and better creatives than what was possible before. And we can get far more of it at a time. Best of all, any property can shine because any IP is a potential goldmine. Before, any fan would have to wait forever in vain hoping for something they like to come into fruition as a movie in their now-failed DCEU. But instead, they can just focus on making good stuff, and hire the right creators to do it. This being HBO Max, they can also be as adult as needed, not having to strive for PG-13 or TV-14 because of content limits by the MPAA or network. They don't need to be TV-MA in every case, but the option is always there.
Here are just some things I'd like to see:
- Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld (this high fantasy series would be a deep cut, and so different from everything else that it's worth doing)
- Blue Beetle (retool the movie that was planned for the DCEU into this, as I think a Jaime show with proper effects would be amazing)
- Hellblazer (an actual John Constantine show; get Matt Ryan but otherwise reboot everything and go full TV-MA with it)
- New Gods (I know a movie has been talked about, but I think something like this is better suited for a big budget TV series as it's too epic in scale)
- Superman (an HBO Max series that does Superman well could be what we need for rebuilding him to the public after the DCEU)
- WildStorm (an R-rated comic universe with untapped potential for a service with no limits? Come on, make it happen!)
Again, I could do this all day, but you get the idea. This is also before getting into the huge potential there is for the animated side of things, something DC always excelled at.
What do you guys think? Do you think we finally have the best platform for DC content and could a new golden era be upon us?
Discuss.