Warner Bros. Discovery announced its long-awaited HBO Max rebrand today, and it showed off a bunch of new content along with it. Between first looks at previously announced series and teasers for freshly revealed HBO and Max Original shows, the company gave subscribers a lot to be excited about once Max launches May 23.
Below, we’ve rounded up each of the teaser trailers that WBD showed off during today’s hourlong presser.
The Penguin
Colin Farrell returns as the classic DC villain in the first teaser for The Penguin, perhaps the most anticipated show of the bunch. The previously announced series promises to expand on Farrell’s character from Matt Reeves’ The Batman. The mobster is seen gulping martinis, whipping out his gun over and over again, and giggling maniacally in this look at Max’s new series.
“This is one of those moments where you ask yourself: What kind of life do I want?” the Penguin narrates. “The world ain’t built for guys like us. That’s why we gotta take whatever we decide is ours.”
Though the Penguin has been seen in a number of different Batman films and played most famously by Danny DeVito in the 1992 Batman Returns, this spinoff expands on Farrell’s unique take on the villain. The eight-episode drama, which will take place after the events in The Batman, is set to co-star Cristin Milioti, Michael Zegen, and Salvatore Maroni. The show remains undated.
Fixer Upper: The Hotel
Joanna and Chip Gaines have no shortage of content, thanks to their Magnolia Network catalog on Discovery+. Now, the couple will bring their fixer-upper skills over to Max with Fixer Upper: The Hotel, which sees the couple handling their “biggest one yet”: a massive hotel in Waco, Texas. Room for one, please! The show will drop when Max launches May 23.
SmartLess: On the Road
Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett go on a cross-country road trip in SmartLess: On the Road—is that not convincing enough on its own? The trio of the original SmartLess pod make a live, staged version of their show featuring guests like David Letterman, Will Ferrell, and Matt Damon in the biggest cities in the US. On the Road premiers May 23.
Love and Translation
We may have lost FBoy Island in the casualties at HBO Max, but Max has a promising new dating reality show in the works. Love and Translation borrows the premise of Duolingo’s April Fool’s Day prank and makes it a reality: Three American bachelors must find love among a dozen women, none of whom speak any English. The show, which stems from the team behind 90 Day Fiancé, arrives this winter and will also air on TLC.
Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge
Warner Bros. Discovery is fully capitalizing on Barbie this year. Not only is the studio’s Margot Robbie-starring blockbuster heading to theaters this July, but Max will have a new Barbie-themed reality show. A team of professional builders will attempt to recreate the original Barbie Dreamhouse in human size. How much pink glitter will they need? Find out when the show premieres on Max and HGTV later this year.
Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai
The Gremlins will return in this animated spinoff, which is set to follow the critters in their early days in 1920s Shanghai. A young boy has an encounter with Gizmo, a Mogwai who needs to return home via a dangerous path through the Chinese countryside. While Gizmo attempts to find his way home, he frequently encounters an evil industrialist and his army of Gremlins. Secrets of the Mogwai arrives May 23.
True Detective: Night Country
Silence of the Lambs legend Jodie Foster returns to the detective work in HBO’s upcoming True Detective: Night Country. Something bloody and brutal is happening in Alaska, and she’s going to get to the bottom of it. The most invigorating part of the trailer, by far, is when Foster shouts, “This is a crime scene! No more fuckin’ around!” Count us in when this fourth season of True Detective drops.
The Regime
Succession may be ending in just a few weeks, but the executive producers are coming back for The Regime, which is set to air in 2024 on HBO. Kate Winslet and Martha Plimpton star as two world leaders at-odds in the first look for the series. The two ladies go head-to-head on something related to America’s involvement in Europe—though the plot is kept mostly under wraps, it’s tense enough to be incredibly intriguing. Stephen Frears (Dangerous Liaisons) directs.
The Sympathizer
Based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Park Chan-wook (Oldboy) will direct this limited series. A teaser suggests a darkly comic story starring an undercover Vietnamese-French agent living in the States in the ’70s, following the Vietnam War. Among the bigger names in the cast are Sandra Oh and Robert Downey, Jr., who plays multiple characters and also produces. The show remains undated.
