HBO Max subscribers can expect a big commitment from Greg Berlanti's Green Lantern and J.J. Abrams' Justice League Dark shows when it comes to the quality. The DC TV landscape has, since 2012, mainly existed over at The CW with Berlanti's first series Arrow setting up the ever-growing Arrowverse that has launched several spin-offs. From The Flash to the upcoming Superman & Lois, Berlanti will have six DC dramas next season, potentially seven if Green Arrow and the Canaries goes to series. However, the TV producer's DC business has begun to also go outside The CW as Berlanti also has Titans, Doom Patrol, and Stargirl at DC Universe. While the DC streaming shows aren't set on the same Earth as The CW's shows, Berlanti connected all of his series into the new Arrowverse multiverse in Crisis on Infinite Earths.
With the arrival of HBO Max, the Warner Bros. TV-based producer is now joining a third platform as he is currently working on producing a Green Lantern related show with Geoff Johns. The producer is also challenging himself with his other DC series for HBO Max, Strange Adventures, the first-ever DC TV anthology. But the WarnerMedia streaming service will also see another big producer throwing his name into the DC TV hat with J.J. Abrams developing and executive producing a Justice League Dark TV show. Details are still very limited about HBO Max's DC properties with the exception of Green Lantern starring Sinestro and two specific human Emerald Knights.
Kevin Reilly, content chief for HBO Max, spoke with Business Insider as he was asked about how the new streaming platform's approach to DC TV shows will differ from what exists currently. While he didn't disclose new plot points for Green Lantern or Justice League Dark, Reilly stressed that fans should expect budgets that will give these shows a cinematic feeling. Even though Strange Adventures isn't referred to by name, it's very likely that the same commitment will be given for that series as well.
Greg [Berlanti, who is producing a Green Lantern series for Max] has done a lot of really quality DC fare for The CW. These will not be that. These will be next step up in production value. You can expect the highest level of cinematic production values on those shows, and that's the same for the projects we've announced with J.J. [Abrams].
Even though the characters have yet to be revealed, HBO Max's Green Lantern show was also included in becoming part of Arrowverse's new Multiverse during Crisis on Infinite Earths. After Oliver Queen as the Spectre rebooted the Multiverse, the upcoming sci-fi adventure's designation was revealed to be Earth-12 as they used archived Green Lantern footage from the 2011 film starring Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan.
After Warner Bros. spent years developing it as a feature film, Justice League Dark will get its spotlight as a television show. It's still unclear what Justice League Dark team members Abrams will be using for his line-up. Given that neither show will be seen before 2021 at the very earliest, it's a good marketing strategy for HBO Max to declare that their DC shows will have their tones and quality. As the year progresses, and HBO Max through its launch, more details will hopefully begin to emerge for Berlanti's Green Lantern and Abrams' Justice League Dark.
Source: Business Insider