HBO Max’s companion series to The Batman will in fact be a “Year One” prequel to the highly anticipated costumed crimefighter drama from director Matt Reeves.

When announced in July, the smaller-screen offshoot was said to “build upon the motion picture’s examination of the anatomy of corruption in Gotham City, ultimately launching a new Batman universe across multiple platforms. The series provides an unprecedented opportunity to extend the world established in the movie and further explore the myriad of compelling and complex characters of Gotham.” Boardwalk Empire creator Terence Winter will pen the script.

Now, in a Saturday appearance at DC FanDome, Reeves elaborated that the idea for the TV series is to “go back to Year One… the first emergence, the first appearance of this masked vigilante that starts to unsettle the city” of Gotham, whereas the film The Batman takes place in Year Two. “You start to see the story through the POV of these corrupt cops, and one in particular. And the story is actually a battle for [the cop’s] soul.”

With “this myth” that will become Batman “building in the background” of the HBO Max series, Reeves said “you’re actually in a new place where you’ve never seen these characters before — some of them we’ll touch on that you may have seen in the comics, but others are totally new.”

Currently expected to hit theaters in October 2021, The Batman stars Robert Pattinson (pictured above) in the title role, along with Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Paul Dano as Edward Nashton/Riddler, Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth and Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin, among others.