HBO Max has cancelled numerous forthcoming holiday specials, including the anticipated animated Christmas special Merry Little Batman. But Warner Bros. Animation has numerous projects like this in the works that they hope to sell to other studios. After being announced in September 2021, the special was to premiere on Cartoon Network’s ACME Night before moving to HBO Max for streaming. The story would centre on Damian Wayne, age six, who is left alone at Wayne Manor and must become “Little Batman” to protect the mansion and all of Gotham City from the criminals who aim to destroy Christmas.
It was planned that Earth to Ned creator Morgan Evans would create the script for the special and that Regular Show director Mike Roth would serve as executive producer. The special was announced with the goal of “creating a destination for multigenerational stories that bind families together through the power of creativity,” as stated by Tom Ascheim, head of Warner Bros. Global Kids, Young Adults, and Classics programming. If Merry Little Batman is picked up by another network, perhaps the original plan can still be implemented.
The best DC fans can do is hold out hope. Many HBO Max customers are perplexed by the recent cancellation announcements, which include Merry Little Batman as well as a movie adaptation of The Amazing World of Gumball and the withdrawal of 36 titles from the service’s streaming catalogue. The decision to terminate and remove services follows announcements that HBO Max and Discovery+ will be combined. In a statement outlining the impending merger, HBO Max explained that in order to bring both streaming services’ libraries under one platform, certain adjustments would need to be made to the programming available on each service.
When Warner Bros. and Discovery merged in April of this year, it resulted in a number of significant changes, including layoffs, more programming cuts, and the widely publicised cancellation of Batgirl. If other streaming services are as successful as Netflix, then hopefully most of the removed titles will be made available elsewhere. Ahead of that, here’s what you can look forward to from upcoming material on HBO Max, including the first live-action adaption series of The Last of Us, The Idol, Love and Death, and more: