Boy Scout (2020 Television Series)

Boy Scout is an upcoming American television series developed for HBO and HBO Max by David S. Goyer, based on the Comix character Superman, an alien superhero, created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series is produced by HBO Entertainment in association with Comix Television, Warner Bros. Television Studios, and Phantom Four Films, with Goyer, Kevin Feige, Zack Snyder, and Greg Weisman serving as showrunners. Christopher and Jonathan Nolan, Charles Roven, Deborah Snyder, and Emma Thomas served as consultants.

Boy Scout stars a young Garfield Kent in the fictional town of Smallville, Kansas before he becomes the Man of Steel.

Before the series' production, Bruce Wayne, chronicling the young protagonist's journey towards Batman, was proposed first. While that series was eventually reworked into The Bat, it also inspired Boy Scout. Development began in 2015 when Warner Bros. Pictures took pitches from comic book writers, screenwriters, and producers, opting to reboot the Superman franchise as a television series. In 2016, a court ruling resulted in Jerry Siegel's family recapturing the rights to Superman's origin and Siegel's copyright. The decision stated that Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Bros. Television Studios did not owe the families additional royalties from previous films, but if they did not being production on a Superman film or television series by 2018, then the Shuster and Siegel estates would be able to sue for lost revenue on an unproduced film or television series. Series developer David S. Goyer pitched his "no tights, no flights" rule to the president of Warner Bros. Television Studios, reducing Superman to his bare, essential, and timeless elements, and examining what led Garfield Kent to become Superman. The series was officially picked up by HBO on October 2017 and was announced to be among the first programming available for HBO Max.

Boy Scout is scheduled to premiere sometime in 2020.

Premise
Boy Scout follows Garfield Kent and his journey to becoming Earth's greatest superhero while coming to terms with the revelation of his alien origins.

Development
In June 2015, Warner Bros. Pictures took pitches from comic book writers, screenwriters, and producers on how to successfully restart the Superman film series. Comic book writers Grant Morrison, Mark Waid, and Brad Meltzer were among those who pitched their ideas for a reboot. "I told them it's not that bad. Just treat Superman: The Quest for Peace as Adam West's Batman 1966," Morrison said. "Batman: The Animated Series has proven the audience will forgive you and let you redo the franchise in any shape or form," said Waid. Morrison's idea was similar to his work on All-Star Superman, while Waid's was akin to Superman: Birthright. Mark Millar, teaming with director Matthew Vaughn, also planned an epic eight-hour Superman trilogy, with each installment released a year apart, similar to The Lord of the Rings. Millar also compared it to the Godfather Trilogy, in which it would chronicle the entire life of Superman, from his early days of Krypton, where little Kal-El witnesses his father's tireless struggle to save the planet, to the finale where the Sun begins to go supernova. According to Millar, Vaughn suggested his 22-year-old Stardust actor Charlie Cox as a Golden-Age inspired Superman "when he was a bit more of a regular person."

In August 2015, Warner Bros. Pictures suggest a reboot of the franchise, with a television series serving as the best alternative. Studio executive Jeff Robinov planned to have a show developed by either 2017 or 2018, explaining, "The Quest for Peace didn't quite work as a film in the way that we wanted it to. It didn't position the character the way he needed to be positioned. Had Superman worked in 1987, we would've had a movie for Christmas of 1989 or 1990. Now the plan is just to reintroduce Superman without regard to a Batman and Superman movie at all." Paul Levitz stated in an interview that Batman holds the key to a Superman reboot. He elaborated, "Everyone is waiting for Warner Bros. to approve Matt Reeves' three season outline for his Batman show. Once that happens, the release date for Superman and all other future projects will follow." In February 2016, Joseph McGinty Nichol, who previously planned to direct Superman: Flyby expressed interest in returning to the Superman franchise. August 2016 saw a court ruling in which Jerry Siegel's family recaptured 50% of the rights to Superman's origins and Siegel's share of the copyright in Action Comics #1. In addition, a judge ruled that Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Bros. Television Studios did not owe the families any additional royalties from previous films. However, if they did not begin production on a Superman film or television series by 2018, then the Siegel estate would have been able to sue for lost revenue on an unproduced film or television series.

Originally, Pearl Street Films wanted to do a series about a young Bruce Wayne. Although that idea was eventually reworked into The Bat, David S. Goyer eventually incorporated the concept of presenting a young hero's journey into his idea of regarding how to present Superman in a modern context, making a "no tights, no flights" rule that Garfield Kent would not fly or wear the Superman suit during the series, wanting to strip Superman to his "bare, essential, and timeless elements", exploring why and how Gar became Superman. Goyer focused heavily on five primary storyline's to develop a feel for Boy Scout: The Man of Steel, Superman: Birthright, All-Star Superman, Superman: Secret Origin, and Superman: Earth One. He pitched his idea to Warner Bros. Television Studios in 2017 who hired him as a developer, executive producer, and showrunner. Brett A. Paul, president of Warner Bros. Television Studios, spoke to Entertainment Weekly, and allowed a peek over the wall of secrecy surrounding their Comix plans: "It's setting up the tone for what the other media are going to be like going forward. In that, it's definitely a first step." Plans included for the series to contain references to the existence of other superheroes, alluding to the possibility of a further Comix Universe and setting the tone for a shared fictional universe of Comix characters in live-action. Guillermo del Toro, with whom Goyer worked on Blade II, turned down a position for executive producer on the series because of his commitment on a film adaptation of At the Mountains of Madness, while Robert Zemeckis was also approached. Ben Affleck (who intially conceived the concept of Bruce Wayne), Darren Aronofsky, Duncan Jones, Jonathan Liebesman, Matt Reeves (who was also a showrunner for The Bat), and Tony Scott were also considered potential producers. In October 2017, the series was officially titled Boy Scout, with Goyer, Greg Berlanti, Todd Helbing, Geoff Johns, Damian Kindler, Sarah Schecter, and Cameron Welsh also serving as executive producers.

Writing
David S. Goyer confirmed there would be references to Batman in the series, indicating his presence in the shared universe.

Boy Scout has been described by Warner Bros. Television Studios as a from-the-roots reinterpretation of the Superman mythology.

Casting
Casting began in November 2017.