J.J. Abrams to produce Justice League Dark and The Shining-inspired series for HBO Max

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Having explored that galaxy far, far away, J.J. Abrams is stepping back into the producer's chair to bring a few pop culture icons to the small screen. The director of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker has signed on to executive produce three upcoming series for HBO Max: an adaptation of Justice League Dark, a The Shining spin-off titled Overlook, and an original simply called Duster.

There’s currently no word on which characters will appear in Justice League Dark. In the comics, the likes of John Constantine, Swamp Thing, and Madame Xanadu were often part of the team, so there’s plenty to choose from. Guillermo del Toro was previously attached to a Justice League Dark movie, yet Abrams’ series seemingly means that’s definitely not happening. Fingers crossed he takes some cues from the horror maestro.

Then there’s Overlook. The spin-off to Stephen King’s novel will feature 10 episodes focusing on the untold stories of the eponymous mysterious hotel, way before the arrival of Jack Torrence and his family. The team behind Amazon Prime’s Castle Rock, also a King adaptation, will reunite for Overlook, so we’ve no doubt they know exactly what they’re doing with the material. This, of course, also comes after Doctor Sleep, which was a sequel – rather than prequel – to The Shining.

Last but not least we have Duster. set in the ‘70s, the series will explore the life of a getaway driver for a criminal gang in the Southwest of America, and is being co-written by The Walking Dead scribe, LaToya Morgan.

Variety reports that each series will be produced by Abrams’ company Bad Robot – the studio behind Westworld, Mission Impossible: Fallout, and the latest Star Trek trilogy – in collaboration with Warner Bros, and all episodes will be an hour long.

Chief content officer at HBO Max, Kevin Reilly, issued this statement: “What an amazing start to our association with the wildly imaginative Bad Robot team under J.J. and Katie [McGrath]. What could be better than an original J.J. idea and then Warner Bros. letting them loose on iconic I.P. from Stephen King and the DC Universe and to provide more must-have programming on HBO Max.”

J.J Abrams is certainly keeping himself busy with these three large-scale series, and we’ll be sure to keep you informed of every update before they reach HBO Max. In the meantime, if you’re looking for your next binge-worthy show, here are the best Netflix shows on the platform right now.

Millicent Thomas was once a freelance games and film journalist, writing for publications including GamesRadar, Total Film, Space.com, GamesIndustry.biz, Wireframe, Little White Lies, Culturess, SciFiNow, and more. She is now in international PR and marketing for Ubisoft.