HBO Max may be planning to make a GCPD-focused prequel to the upcoming The Batman movie, but they'd be better served by an adaptation of the cult-classic comic book Hitman. Not only would such a project seem less derivative of Gotham but it would be able to tap into the audiences of successful streaming series like The Boys and Harley Quinn.

Hitman was based around the misadventures of Tommy Monaghan; a Marine veteran and Gotham City native, who fought in the Gulf War before becoming one of the city's most dangerous contract killers. Tommy first appeared in The Demon Annual #2 (January 1993) as part of the Bloodlines crossover event, where a host of new Gotham City heroes and villains were introduced into the DC Comics' universe after various people gained superpowers after being attacked by alien parasites. In Tommy's case, he acquired x-ray vision and telepathy. This led Tommy to rebrand himself, going after those targets that other assassins wouldn't dare take on.  Hitman ran for 61 issues (including a DC One Million tie-in) and won the 1999 Eisner Award for Best Single Issue before coming to a close in February 2001.

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The chief reason HBO Max should adapt Hitman is that it offered a truly unique view of Gotham City and its underworld. TV police procedurals are a dime a dozen and shows like Gotham and Pennyworth have already explored the idea of what the world of Batman was like before Batman ever showed up. A series centered around a low-level metahuman assassin navigating the divide between the old money mobs that ran Gotham's underworld for decades and the nouveau riche super-criminals that are slowly taking over the town would represent an interesting change of pace.

Garth Ennis and John McCrea's Hitman

Another factor to be considered in adapting Hitman for live-action television is that the series was written by Garth Ennis, who was also responsible for co-creating The Boys. Hitman possessed a similarly dark sense of humor, becoming infamous after one storyline in which Tommy found himself at Ground Zero of a zombie apocalypse plague release in the Gotham City Aquarium and had to beat a zombie baby seal to death with a spiked club. Given how good The Boys has been for Amazon Prime, it would not be unwise for HBO Max to consider how well a Hitman series might perform with proper marketing.

While a live-action Hitman adaptation would be interesting, the series could also easily be adapted into an animated series for adults, ala Harley Quinn. In fact, Hitman could be set in the same universe, as one of the more subtle DC universe Easter eggs in the series was that Harley and Ivy's favorite bar was Noonan's; the same bar frequented by Tommy Monaghan in the Hitman comics. Even if it weren't officially a spin-off, an animated series in the same style as John McCrea's artwork would have novelty value and be far more exciting than another hum-drum Batman show without The Batman.

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