With Franchises Like Batman/TMNT & Gremlins, WarnerMedia Will Need To Identify What It Wants To Be

We need to get this off of our chest.

One of the issues that Netflix doesn’t have versus what every other incoming streaming service and TV network will probably have is where to put content. For example, why have Cloak & Dagger on Freeform when I’m only gonna watch it on Hulu as by chaser for my ongoing Runaways obsession. Or why cancel a Deadpool adult animated series for FX Networks if Disney was just gonna green light four new Marvel adult animated series for Hulu. With Netflix you know if they order something, exactly where it’s gonna go. Disney, WarnerMedia, and NBC Universal have multiple cable channels and soon multiple streaming services on the way to account for. With that in mind, let’s check out this new Gremlins animated series in development for WarnerMedia’s upcoming streaming service which is supposed to begin having originals in 2020.

The series would be a prequel to the blockbuster films following the little Mogwai known as Gizmo, and a younger version of Mr. Wing than what was presented in the movies and therefore will feature tales about the duo’s adventures leading up to the movie. As we all know, Mr. Wing had to find out the hard way about the three things you need to be aware of when taking care of a Mogwai so we imagine this animated series could go one of two ways: 1) the friendlier “PG”-rated first film or 2) the tad more gross “PG-13” sequel.  Tze Chun (Gotham, Once Upon a Time) will write and executive produce Television and Amblin Television are set to produce.

In related news, Warner Home Video is producing a Batman vs TMNT animated film slated to arrive this Spring. According to Syfy:

The film’s voice cast features Troy Baker (The Last of Us, Batman: Arkham Origins) as both Batman and the Joker (making him the first actor ever to take on both roles in one project), Darren Criss (the Emmy-winning star of The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story) as Raphael, Kyle Mooney (Saturday Night Live) as Michelangelo, Baron Vaughn (Grace and Frankie) as Donatello, Eric Bauza (The Woody Woodpecker Show) as Leonardo, Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) as Batgirl, Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants) as the Penguin, John DiMaggio (Adventure Time) as Mr. Freeze, Tara Strong (The Powerpuff Girls) as both Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, Carlos Alazraqui (Reno 911!) as Bane, and Cas Anvar (The Expanse) as Ra’s al Ghul.

Our Take

So here’s a treasure trove of franchises that WarnerMedia is working with that could go more adult or more kid-friendly, and my gut tells me if Warner goes the latter on both, Cartoon Network subscribers are gonna flock from cable TV services to the new streaming services which could help crack most of the cable packages you see nowadays. If Warner goes the former on both franchises, then it’s competition for all of the streaming services that require you to be 13 to sign up therefore making it impossible for kids to want to make the jump over without their parents, and instead just relax on TV until they are a little older. Cartoon Network is usually basic cable on just about every package, the decisions on what families want to do will come down to price and availability of bandwidth. AT&T hasn’t done that just yet for the latter, but with the 6G service the company could be close. DirecTV customers won’t have to worry because that’s an AT&T company and WarnerMedia could very well be added as an onDemand channel for those customers much in the same way it does now for AT&T wireless customers for HBO and such. Again though, you gotta show value if you’re WarnerMedia. If the company makes content more skewed towards an older fanbase versus a younger one, you’ll have more financial decision makers to build a foundation on and is much easier to sprinkle in kids media later.