In the wake of the merger between Warner Bros. and Discovery, the new company immediately set about trying to cut costs. This means that they are scrapping a number of previously announced or reported projects they had in the works. While most DC fans' attention is on the lost Batgirl movie, killing the Strange Adventures series feels like another shortsighted mistake on the part of Warner Bros. Discovery.

The news that Strange Adventures was canceled came from an unlikely source. Filmmaker, podcaster, and friend of Pop culture Kevin Smith revealed the series was finished while criticizing the move to shelve Batgirl during Hollywood Babble-On. Smith later said he didn't realize he was "announcing" anything, but rather thought he was telling a story about a series that would never be that no one knew about. Yet, Strange Adventures was unofficially announced in fall 2019 by Variety as part of super-producer Greg Berlanti's overall deal with the company. It was to be an anthology series focusing on one-off stories about lesser-known or not-often-adapted DC characters. What it would've been, however, is a pilot factory for HBO Max and DC Comics.

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Manu Bennett's Deathstroke in the Arrowverse

No matter where one falls on the spectrum of fans of the DC Extended Universe, there is no denying that the film side of the house is in a bit of turmoil. The new Black Adam film is being framed as a "new" DC universe. The forthcoming The Flash movie runs headfirst into the DC Multiverse. The old DCEU continues with 2022's Shazam! Fury of the Gods and in 2023, a return of Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne in Aquaman 2. Meanwhile, Matt Reeves is building out the universe of The Batman (but not as a director). There's also a new standalone Joker film with Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. Meanwhile, Berlanti has produced nearly 25 separate DC Comics projects in the past decade, including the most consistent shared universe DC ever had. Canceling Strange Adventures is a huge mistake, because the idea would've allowed Berlanti to discover the billion-dollar-idea DC and Warner Bros. have been looking for.

One of the characters that Strange Adventures would have played with was Boston Brand, also known as Deadman. Fans of DC Comics know Brand for his versatility in being able to go back and forth between the mortal realm and anywhere else. Even though Netflix's Sandman erased its DC Comics connections, Deadman and Dream have met in the pages of Neil Gaiman's comic. This niche character could have, in the hands of the right creators like Berlanti, become the kind of surprise action-horror sensation that Blade was for Marvel. Strange Adventures would, essentially, be a series of mid-budget hour-long movies trying out DC characters in live-action.

Warner Bros. Discovery wants to save all their DC characters for the big screen, which makes sense if one doesn't understand comics. A character like Boston Brand is perfect for a short-form project on streaming, the place where non-tentpole features typically find a home in the modern entertainment landscape. Strange Adventures could have been the source of amazing, artful stories.

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Polka-Dot Man attends meeting in Suicide Squad 2021

For every big spectacle comics story like "Death of Superman," there are equally important smaller, emotional tales such as All Star Superman. Warner Bros. Discovery seems to take for granted how fortunate they are to have a major franchise capable of successfully pulling off both. Even if they'd slashed the reported budget for Strange Adventures from $20 million to $10 million per episode, they could have done some very cool things. This show could have been the vehicle for Greg Berlanti and WBD to find the next Arrowverse. Counting Gotham Knights, Berlanti had five DC-themed pilots in the works in 2021 alone. All of them could have been Strange Adventures episodes.

There was Justice U with David Ramsey's John Diggle; a one-off story about the Diggle of the Arrowverse training the next generation of heroes would be a nice last chapter at the end of his story. There were also the Dead Boy Detectives, who appeared in the last season of Doom Patrol. Even more highly anticipated ideas like those focusing on Booster Gold or Green Lantern could work as episodes of an anthology first.

Strange Adventures would have been a special show in the DC arsenal. Killing it before it filmed is incredibly shortsighted. Fans missed out on great stories, while WBD missed out on a proving ground for characters and talent that could make their next blockbuster. DC and Warner Bros. Discovery should play closer attention to their lower-tier characters. Marvel Studios knew they could take their less famous names and build an exciting overarching narrative just like the comics. DC doesn't have to follow them beat for beat, but they still have to take risks to find which unlikely characters will capture the world's imagination.