Warner Bros. Are Completely Erasing These Shows From Existence
A host of shows and films have already been canceled by Warner Bros, but now the media conglomerate has wiped many others from existence.
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With the new regime at Warner Bros. Discovery, fans are worried that some of their favorite and anticipated projects will get axed soon. The HBO Max Batgirl film was one of the first causalities of the Warner Bros. merger with Discovery, and now it appears more shows are suffering the same fate. Earlier this week, HBO Max announced that nearly 40 shows would completely be erased from their streaming service. Many of the shows were animated series, specifically from Cartoon Network. While taking the shows off the streamer is one, completely erasing them from existence is an entirely different issue. However, that appears to be the case as the web pages for Elliot On Earth, Infinity Train, Mighty Magiswords, Mao Mao, and OK K.O. have all been blanked out.
And that’s not all. It appears Warner Bros. has deleted every YouTube video and tweet that pertains to Infinity Train and Mao Mao. Some videos for OK K.O. still exist on Cartoon Network’s YouTube channel. However, it appears a lot of them-including the theme song-have been erased. In addition, it seems as if Infinity Train’s soundtrack has been taken off Apple Music and all other music streaming platforms. There are still DVDs for the animated show, but the discs are universally sold out. Fans discovered that a box set does exist on eBay for a whopping $500. As for OK K.O., fans can still watch the show on Hulu. Infinity Train is also said to be available for rent in a couple of outlets.
As The Mary Sue points out, this isn’t the first time Warner Bros. has completely taken songs from popular shows off music streaming platforms. After a previous merger, the studio decided to delete songs from Sub Pop artists on The Rick and Morty Soundtrack. In regard to the animated shows that were taken off HBO Max, many of the teams behind them found out about the removal on the internet. There’s yet to be any official word for why the shows are being taken off the streamer. Some have suggested that this is due to new Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav wanting to eliminate content that forces the company to pay out residuals to those involved. However, nothing is confirmed at this point.
As noted earlier, these are just some of many projects that Warner Bros. has axed recently. After the cancellation of Batgirl, HBO Max quietly removed six Warner Bros. streaming exclusive movies from their streaming service. On August 4th, 2022, Warner Bros. Discovery officially confirmed that they plan on combining HBO Max and Discovery+ into one streaming service that will be available in the summer of 2023. When discussing the streaming merger, Zaslav said that they are not planning to delete or cancel all HBO Max content, but instead they want to use the best of both platforms to create a single streaming service for those familiar with both. In addition to removing many HBO Max content, it was reported that 70% of the developmental team for the streamer would be laid off.
After the cancellation of Batgirl, many fans still worry that unfinished projects could also get the ax. Even a well-established, recognizable IP such as Batman doesn’t appear to be safe. It was reported earlier this week that Batman: Cape Crusader, the new show from Batman The Animated Series creator Bruce Tim, was canceled despite having been ordered to series just last year. For those on the outside looking in, it’s hard not to feel worried about all the changes happening at Warner Bros.
