Max

(aka: HBO Max)

Max is a streaming service run by Warner Bros. Discovery. Originally named "HBO Max" after the premium HBO channel, content on the service encompasses numerous studios and media libraries under the Warner Bros. Discovery brand. HBO Max launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, and was rebranded as Max on May 23, 2023.

Announced in the wake of previous owner AT&T's buyout of Time Warner, HBO Max was the defunct WarnerMedia's official answer to Netflix, Prime Video, Paramount+, Disney+, Hulu, Apple TV+ and Peacock. Some previously existing streaming services owned by the Warner conglomerate, such as FilmStruck and Drama Fever, were shut down, with their content absorbed into HBO Max. Others, such as Crunchyroll and DC Universe, initially continued to operate independently, though some of their more popular programming was made available on the service^note Crunchyroll would later be sold to Sony Pictures, the owners of Funimation, while DC Universe was converted into the comics-only platform DC Universe Infinite, both within a year of HBO Max's launch. Additionally, some series that are owned by the Warner conglomerate but had been on other streaming services prior to HBO Max's launch, most notably Friends, were migrated over.

In addition to carrying a vast array of content from the Warner Bros. Discovery library, the service also features licensed content from Disney, Universal Pictures, J. J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions, John Wells Productions, Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine, Sony Pictures Animation, MGM, and Sesame Workshop. Additionally, HBO Max holds the streaming rights to South Park, several BBC original series (including the current version of Doctor Who), and a majority of Studio Ghibli's anime film catalog.

For select pay-TV providers, subscribers to the linear HBO channel automatically gain access to Max content at no additional cost. Third-party providers who provide Max alongside their HBO add-ons for new and existing subscribers include Apple TV, Google Play, Sony, and Microsoft video game consoles, Hulu, Amazon, and YouTube TV. Some services who hadn't signed on to provide HBO Max, namely Roku and Amazon Fire, continued to carry HBO only, until agreements were eventually reached with them to provide Max content in December 2020. While the service was initially priced identically to previous HBO streaming feeds, a lower-priced, ad-supported tier launched in June 2021 (though HBO Originals remain ad-free on all tiers).

Initially, original films on HBO Max were released under the unique "Warner Max" label, as a way to distinguish streaming content from theatrical Warner Bros. releases. However, this only lasted through 2020; beginning with Locked Down, Max Original films now carry the Warner Bros. logo.

When it first launched, there were already two other streaming services bearing the HBO brand: "HBO Go" (a "TV Anywhere" app for linear HBO subscribers) and "HBO Now" (a standalone streaming service containing only HBO content). HBO Go was discontinued in the United States on July 31, 2020, though it is still temporarily available through some select providers that don't yet have their linear HBO subscriptions grant Max access. Meanwhile, HBO Now was rebranded as just "HBO" on the same date, before being discontinued after HBO Max was added to Roku.

The Latin American version of the service launched on June 29, 2021, with the rollout for European versions of HBO Max beginning on October 26 and continuing into 2022. In Asia, HBO Max original programming is being made available on the linear channel and HBO Go instead ^note However, we should note that HBO Go in Asia operates largely in the same manner as HBO Max does elsewhere, offering subscription-based platform-independent access even to those who are on pay TV providers that do not offer HBO channels, with the only difference being that in addition to the on-demand content, it also offers unrestricted IPTV access to the linear channels., although in June 2021, it was announced that they will be phasing out HBO Go in favor of HBO Max in the region. Whether this is just a rebrand or a full revamp of the service remains to be seen.

The service was released in the midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic, which forced companies to push back their movies so people could watch them in theaters. While Warner Bros. initially did the same, they soon decided to take an unprecedented move with HBO Max—and it was announced on December 3, 2020 that all Warner Bros. Pictures theatrical releases through the end of 2021, starting with Wonder Woman 1984, will stream on HBO Max for a one-month period on the same day they arrive in theaters.^note The films were not available on the ad-supported tier. In March 2021, Warner Bros. reached deals with the Cineworld theater chain (which includes Regal Cinemas) among many others establishing a 45-day theatrical exclusivity window beginning in 2022, ensuring that the hybrid strategy would not extend beyond 2021. The service would also debut six original films known as "Warner Bros. Streaming Exclusives" during 2021 and 2022.

Upon the creation of Warner Bros. Discovery, Magnolia Network (previously DIY Network), a channel that was owned by Discovery and Chip & Joanna Gaines, gained oversight from HBO. Magnolia Network originals were added into HBO Max's lineup in August of that year. As a result, HBO Max removed hours of content from its servers worldwide (especially in the US), this included films (including HBO Max originals and exclusives), series (including some acquisitions) and local originals that were available in markets where HBO Max is available. In mid-2022, Warner Bros. Discovery embarked on a series of major cost-cutting moves regarding the platform, including shuttering and shelving several intended Max Originals/WB Streaming Exclusives (including a Batgirl film and a sequel to SCOOB!) that were already in mid- or post-production. The production of series (original or otherwise) and streaming/made-for-TV films (under strict budget limitations) is now intended to be fully handled by HBO.

On April 12, 2023, WBD announced that it would rebrand HBO Max as simply Max and add select content from the channels that were owned by Discovery before the merger to the HBO Max content that they chose to keep (the service's status as the OTT home of HBO was retained, leading to advertising that ran "Max—The one to watch for HBO"). Instead they launched Max as an entirely new app in the US on May 23 of that same year. On August 24 of that year, Max and CNN would announce the launch CNN Max, a dedicated content hub featuring programs from CNN and CNN International alongside exclusive content which launched in the US on September 27 of that year. The service relaunched in LATAM countries on February 27, 2024 while a wider European relaunch (Nordic countries, the Netherlands, ex-Yugoslav countries, Spain, Portugal & Andorra and Central European countries) and a launch in France and Belgium rolled out during that same year, followed by a launch in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Taiwan on November 19th of that year. The relaunched service reached CEE, Nordic countries, Spain and Portugal on May 21st while on June 11th, Max launched in France and Poland. The (relaunched) Dutch and Belgian versions of the service will be branded under its former name due to that name being used by Dutch broadcaster Omroep MAX & Flemish broadcaster VRT's streaming service VRT Max respectively, while WBD rebranded their existing MAX channel in Norway to REX to avoid confusion. In 2026, the service is scheduled to arrive to the UK, Ireland and Italy after deals for WBD content in those territories with Sky are due to lapse.

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Content providers include:

Max Originals with pages on TV Tropes include:

Bold indicates either ongoing or upcoming programs.

Programs marked with a * have been removed from the service.

Exclusive international distribution:

The following list is for programs HBO Max has acquired distribution rights to stream outside their home countries.

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Warner Bros. Same-Day Premieres on HBO Max included:

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Tropes associated with Max:

• Banned Episode:
  • As with all current releases and airings of the series, Dexter's Laboratory is missing the "Barbequor" segment, once again replacing it with "Dexter's Lab: A Story".
  • Likewise, The Powerpuff Girls is missing its banned episode, "See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey", although it's currently streaming on Netflix and was released on DVD.
  • The Boondocks episode "The Story of Jimmy Rebel" is still gone, due to the episode's harsh race humor, even for this show's standards (though, with heightened concerns over racism today, this episode might catch heat from it, regardless).
  • The Tom and Jerry section carefully omits any shorts that feature any sort of racially insensitive humor (including scenes featuring the black housemaid, Mammy Two-Shoes), as well as shorts that might be considered too disturbing for other reasons. (i.e. The Two Mouseketeers.) Almost every short is on DVD and digital purchase, and several of them are on the Boomerang app.
  • The Popeye section also omits racially insensitive material as well as his more blatant WWII propaganda cartoons (if one is looking for those Popeye shorts in particular, they are available on DVD and Blu-Ray up to 1949).
  • Don't bother trying to look for any short that is a part of the Censored Eleven as those are completely omitted from the Looney Tunes section. Same with some of the more blatant WWII propaganda shorts (like Tokio Jokio and Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips). On a similar note, shorts featuring Bosko, Pepé Le Pew^note though "Odor of the Day", "Two Scents Worth", and "Really Scent" as well as a cameo at the end of the Sylvester the Cat and Tweety Bird cartoon "Dog Pounded" are available for streaming. While "Odor of the Day" and "Really Scent" are considered the safer Pepe cartoons — "Odor..." because it has him as a relentless pest without the unfortunately rapey undertones, and "Really Scent" is considered the only one where the cat's love for Pepe is consensual (though it does border on non-consensual sometimes) — there's no explanation as to why "Two Scents Worth" is also there...unless WB is testing the waters to see if including at least one of the less safe Pepé cartoons will lead to all of them being released in the near future, and Speedy Gonzales are conspicuously missing^note "Nuts and Volts" was available on the service but was later removed as of February 2021, though there are large gaps where the Speedy cartoons should be, implying they would be added soon. Cartoons with Suicide as Comedy also are not shown. The most way you can watch most of the shorts (for now) is through the Boomerang app, as the entire selection of 1930-1950 shorts were removed in 2024 as shorts from 1951-2014 returned to the service.
  • On a similar note, don't even bother trying to find the lost/banned Sesame Street Wicked Witch episode (which already got complaints for being too scary), because it's not there. While a lot of the older episodes are missing, the Wicked Witch one is the most obvious.
  • Starting from June 25, 2020, the Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode "Shake Like Me" was banned because it centered on Master Shake becoming stereotypically black.
  • Three South Park episodes, "Super Best Friends", "200", and "201", have been unavailable on digital and streaming services since the latter two premiered in 2010 and caused outrage over their visual depiction of Muhammad, and remain unavailable on HBO Max. The "Cartoon Wars" two-parter which also featured Muhammad's image as a plot point is also missing, though it remains available for digital purchase and on DVD and Blu-Ray.
  • Chappelle's Show is missing the season two episode "The Internet & Moment in the Life of Lil' Jon", which Comedy Central banned from circulation due to featuring a brief appearance by porn star Ron Jeremy, who was charged with multiple counts of rape in June 2020. The entire series was taken off the service at the end of 2020 after Dave Chappelle himself objected to the show being on several platforms and him not getting a cut of the royalties (as mentioned when he hosted Saturday Night Live on November 2020 during his monologue), and it only came back after Chappelle reached a new deal with series owner ViacomCBS. This deal resulted in the removal of the third season, which was cobbled together from material shot before Chappelle quit and assembled without his involvement.
• Channel Hop: Several programs from other WarnerMedia/Warner Bros. Discovery outlets became "Max Originals" (though some of these shows would still have airings on their former homes).
  • Cartoon Network's Summer Camp Island and Infinity Train from their second and third seasons onward, respectively. (Summer Camp Island hopped back to CN for its final season.)
  • Close Enough, which was originally produced for TBS.
  • Esme & Roy from Season 2 onward, with delayed airing on the network.
  • The production and streaming of DC Universe originals was moved here as the DC Comics-centric streaming service was rebranded as a digital comics-only platform.^note With the exception of Stargirl, which moved to The CW, and Swamp Thing, which was cancelled prior to HBO Max's launch.
    • Season 2 of Doom Patrol was simultaneously streamed on HBO Max and DC Universe. Season 3 onwards is streaming exclusively on HBO Max/Max.
    • Harley Quinn (season 3 onwards)
    • Titans (season 3 onwards)
    • Young Justice (2010) (season 4 onwards)
  • Some films, such as An American Pickle, had their distribution rights bought from studios that don't have streaming services (Sony Pictures in this case; they do own the majority of the ad-supported streamer Crackle, but that service remains obscure and doesn't have many originals to its name) and became Max Originals. It also happened because of the COVID-19 Pandemic shutting down theaters, rendering smaller budget movies such as this one more interesting for streaming. The new adaptation of The Witches was an internal transfer from Warner Bros.
  • In an unprecedented move, Warner Bros. announced in December 2020 that Wonder Woman 1984 and all of their 2021 theatrical releases will be available for one month on HBO Max simultaneously with their theatrical release. This is without a doubt one of the most game-changing events in the film industry, for better or worse; the move has prompted acclaim from audiences (who will of course be benefitted in having an easier way to watch movies) and investors (who can rack up more profits) while inviting derision from industry figures like Legendary Pictures, Christopher Nolan, Denis Villeneuve and James Gunn, as Warner Bros. did not discuss the matter wholeheartedly with them (some only learned about the move less than an hour before it was announced).
  • Beforeigners was originally streamed on HBO Nordic, a WarnerMedia streaming service available only in Scandinavia. It moved to HBO Max after the service rolled out in the region in October 2021, replacing HBO Nordic.
  • Pennyworth moved from MGM+ to HBO Max starting with its third season.
  • Clone High moved from MTV to Max for its revival (MTV Entertainment Studios is producing the series).
• Clumsy Copyright Censorship:
  • Some classic Sesame Street episodes have skits cut for music rights reasons, with a segment involving a Muppet singing "Octopus's Garden" serving as one example. Averted in other cases, such as Gordon and a family of Muppets singing "Consider Yourself" in the first episode, which was cut from its DVD release but is retained on Max.
  • Music licensing issues also resulted in the Real Song Theme Tunes of The Wayans Bros. (which used the opening stanza of A Tribe Called Quest's "Electric Relaxation" for its first two seasons) and What I Like About You (which used Canadian pop punk/rock band Lillix's cover of The Romantics song that the sitcom was named after), upon their respective additions to the service in January 2021, being replaced with generic songs originally used as substitute themes for their respective DVD releases.
• Content Leak: 10 days ahead of the release of Zack Snyder's Justice League, a number of HBO Max subscribers were surprised to find that the video file for Tom and Jerry had been replaced with that of the upcoming film. The error was swiftly corrected, though it resulted in Tom and Jerry briefly having the words "(Do Not Use)" appended to its title.
• Creator Backlash: The announcement amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic that the entire 2021 Warner Bros. theatrical film slate would debut on the service for one month concurrently with the theatrical runs sparked outrage from the creative teams of many of said films and beyond against the service, particularly given they were not consulted on the decision to the same degree as the Wonder Woman 1984 crew was in 2020. Agencies representing the films' actors demanded fair compensation, while the Directors Guild of America gave an official rebuke to Warner Bros. and HBO Max. Dune director Denis Villeneuve slammed the decision, decrying it as a cheap move to boost a failing service and accusing AT&T's Warner Bros. of "no longer [being] on the same team" as its filmmakers; James Gunn (The Suicide Squad) and Jon M. Chu (In the Heights) are also reportedly shocked and displeased. Lana Wachowski was also adamant about releasing The Matrix Resurrections theatrically, and, following the simultaneous release, producer Village Roadshow outright sued Warner Bros. Clint Eastwood (Cry Macho) said "Not my favorite thing in the world. How's that going to work out at all? I still don't know.". Downplayed with John Lee Hancock (The Little Things), who admitted to being blindsided by the decision but ultimately accepted the rationale behind it. It also infuriated Christopher Nolan so much that he moved to Universal to make Oppenheimer to guarantee its theatrical exclusivity. As for Villeneuve, he was promised the second part of his adaptation of Dune by WB should the first film do well on streaming, and fortunately it did.
• Credits Pushback: With the rebranding to Max in 2023, this trope was added to all movies — as soon as the end credits (or in the case of older movies, ending title cards) appear, this happens to encourage the viewer to check out related programs. Unfortunately, this includes films with Creative Closing Credits or The Stinger. In the case of Only Yesterday, for instance, it means potentially missing the film's actual ending.
• Digital Destruction:
  • As with HBO Now, Max presents all standard definition material not given proper high definition restorations in upscaled HD. Unfortunately, this means shows shot on videotape, like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and MADtv, have a halved frame rate due to de-interlacing.
  • Reno 911! from Comedy Central is even worse, suffering from de-interlacing and an upscale to 16:9 widescreen from its original fullscreen ratio, resulting in an unbalanced, blurry presentation that's only barely watchable (though, considering the show is a parody of COPS, the blurry, unbalanced presentation adds more to it).
  • Like most digital releases, Max generally does not feature Aspect Ratio Switch and, as such, movies like The Dark Knight, TENET and Dune do not feature their expanded IMAX footage. Though an exception was made for Wonder Woman 1984, whose IMAX prologue carried over to the service intact.
• Distanced from Current Events: Gone with the Wind was temporarily removed from the service's library in June 2020 amidst the socio-political climate that followed the death of George Floyd. It topped DVD sales on Amazon that very day as a result. It would eventually return to the service with a Content Warning that discusses its historical context and warns about the outdated depictions of slavery.
• Early-Bird Release:
  • Occasionally releases some HBO content a few days before its premiere on that network, including select episodes of Lovecraft Country and Euphoria.
  • Former Same-Day Premiere titles like Wonder Woman 1984 and The Little Things, upon their return to the service, arrive several days or even weeks prior to their network HBO debut. In late 2021, this became the norm for first-window movies from non-Warner studios as well.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: The service's first joint theatrical/streaming release, Wonder Woman 1984, was launched online at 12pm Eastern Time with a countdown visible on the service. Future same-day releases would simply drop at midnight Pacific Time like most of the service's non-HBO content.^note Exceptions were made for The Suicide Squad and Dune, which launched at 7pm Eastern Time to sync with Thursday preview screenings, which have otherwise been omitted for Same-Day Premieres. However, the platform did not feature countdowns for either as it did for Wonder Woman 1984. This may have been due to Wonder Woman 1984's streaming availability being the product of individual consultation between Warner Bros. and the film's producers, whereas the 2021 releases were (controversially) announced without discussion with the filmmakers or even production companies.
• Enemy Mine:
  • With Disney+ and Hulu in 2021, when the service came to an agreement with Disney to extend their US first pay-TV window rights to 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures films to the end of 2022 (rather than expiring mid-year). The deal also allowed HBO Max to accelerate the release of these films on their platforms, rather than waiting around 9 months from release; in exchange, however, HBO Max will share streaming rights to half of the Disney-owned slate with Disney+ and Hulu. The first film released under this arrangement was Ron's Gone Wrong, which premiered on both HBO Max and Disney+ the same date as its general home video release. A few months later, Nightmare Alley would premiere on HBO Max and Hulu before arriving on standard home video platforms. The final film under this arrangement was Avatar: The Way of Water, 20th's last 2022 release, which premiered on Max and Disney+ on June 7, 2023.
  • Another case with Hulu occurred when HBO Max and Hulu came to an arrangement to share streaming rights to Abbott Elementary, which is produced by Disney-owned 20th Television and HBO corporate sibling Warner Bros. Television.
• Follow the Leader:
  • The service itself, one of many "Netflix clones" announced in response to the success of Disney+.
  • The announcement of DC Comics programming with massive cinematic budgets, such as Green Lantern, Strange Adventures and Justice League Dark, has been seen as a response to Disney+'s own announcement of expensive shows based on Marvel Comics properties (such as The Falcon and the Winter Soldier); previous comic book-based series have been far less budgeted, since they were created for television. That some of these shows could be set in the DC Extended Universe would also follow upon the fact that the aforementioned Disney+ shows are set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. HBO Max has also aimed to one-up Disney+ by greenlighting some DCEU films specifically for HBO Max, such as Batgirl and Blue Beetle (though the latter would later become a theatrical exclusive instead).
  • The Same-Day Premieres program began a few months after Disney+'s similar Premier Access program for new-release films, one-upping that service by making all the movies available for free with a subscription, rather than charging $29.99 per film. As a result of the Creator Backlash above, they would reverse course in 2022; however, similar to Disney+ releasing new films on their platform just 1-3 months after theatrical release, Warner was set to begin launching their films just 46 days after opening theatrically beginning with The Batman. Shortly after the completion of the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, the accelerated timeline for streaming releases was relaxed at the behest of filmmakers who preferred a longer theatrical run, with Elvis director Baz Luhrmann announcing that said film would not be added to the service as quickly as The Batman.
• Killer App:
  • Friends, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and South Park were presented as being these for the service's licensed properties, with HBO Max spending lavishly to acquire the rights to the former and the latter from rival services.
  • Wonder Woman 1984 brought in many people who wouldn't or couldn't go to theaters, as well as kept already subscribed people from cancelling. The excitement that built around the film's release led to the decision to launch the entirety of Warner Bros. 2021 film slate simultaneously in theaters and on the service. Godzilla vs. Kong later outdrew Wonder Woman 1984's debut, only to then be exceeded by Mortal Kombat just a few weeks later.
  • Among "Max Original" titles, Zack Snyder's Justice League generated mountains of free publicity for the service, then scored strong ratings (despite its length and R-rating) and slightly outperformed the first episode of Disney+'s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier the same weekend (which is no small feat considering Disney+ has way more subscribers). The debut was notably below that of the Same-Day Premiere releases Wonder Woman 1984 and Godzilla vs. Kong, though it garnered stronger number of views after a one month period than the Same-Day Premiere releases. It ended up the most watched film on the service in 2021 overall.
• Late Export for You:
  • A major hiccup at launch was the decision to hold out on an international launch for a year after the US launch, which left the service vulnerable to mass piracy in areas not carrying HBO Max. For these territories, HBO Max instead opted to license Max Originals content to third-party broadcasters instead of a standalone app rollout, leaving them at a major competitive disadvantage compared to close rival Disney+ (which nonetheless faced the same problem with its limited launch).
  • Warner Bros. releases such as Wonder Woman 1984 weren't as lucky as the aforementioned Max Originals, as their release ended up being delayed in many countries where theaters could not open due to COVID-19 Pandemic lockdowns, such as in France. Local variants of Denial of Digital Distribution caused the movie to be heavily pirated.
  • Most European countries did not get the service until 2022, only six of them had it in late 2021. France and Belgium got it in June 2024 only (just in time for Season 2 of House of the Dragon, French ads for Max didn't miss the occasion to mention it).
• Market-Based Title: HBO Go in Asia is pretty much HBO Max in every way but name^note And that it also offers IPTV access to HBO's linear channels. While they operated like how HBO Go would in the west at launch, a year later they restructured and opened up to everyone with an internet access and a credit card. WarnerMedia has announced that they will be rebranding the service to match the rest of the world in the near future.
• Missing Episode:
  • The FOX version of MADtv (seasons 1 to 14) has a lot of episodes missing^note seasons 5 to 10 have been hit hardest by this, while seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 12 only have some episodes missing and seasons 11, 13, and 14 have all the episodes present and accounted for due to copyright and licensing issues involving the celebrity guest stars and musical guests ^note Compare to how In Living Color had a lot of episodes severely edited on DVD to get rid of song parodies [including instances of Waxing Lyrical or people singing] or how Saturday Night Live on Hulu only has seasons 1 to 5 and 30 to the current season [though, it's a different story on Peacock, as Peacock has all of SNL's episodes available — the good and bad seasons — albeit edited down to only the sketches most people remember or the ones that aren't considered too controversial to air or have any copyright issues involving music or celebrity cameos]. The entirety of The CW revival and the 20th anniversary special are also MIA from the service.
  • Similar celebrity rights issues have kept dozens of episodes of the American version of Whose Line Is It Anyway? out of the platform. These same episodes are also blacked out from CW Seed.
  • Some episodes of Cartoon Network shows that were aired originally as stand-alone specials are not part of their shows' episode count, and therefore are absent from the service. Among the more notable examples include Codename: Kids Next Door (the epilogue episode "Operation I.N.T.E.R.V.I.E.W.S." and the crossover with The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy) and Ed, Edd n Eddy (the holiday specials and Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show). Made For TV Movies are similarly affected, as Billy and Mandy's Big Boogie Adventure is also nowhere to be seen.
  • The Static Shock episodes "Toys In the Hood", and "Now You See Him..." are both missing from the episode catalog for some reason.
  • The Quibi/Roku Channel seasons of Reno 911! are unavailable on the service.
  • The Yogi Bear cartoons "Papa Yogi" and "Bare Face Bear" aren't on the service. In the case of the latter, which was from Yogi's run on the The Huckleberry Hound Show, it was replaced by "Bearface Disguise", an episode from Yogi's spinoff show with a similar plot.
  • Most of Space Ghost Coast to Coast is missing from the service.
• Significant Name Overlap: The latter half of the name "HBO Max" brought to mind HBO's sibling channel, Cinemax, with the "Max" moniker having been used as Cinemax’s abbreviated nickname since 1985. It even became the network's de facto name from 2008 to 2011.^note Though Cinemax has strayed from using the "Max" short name since HBO Max launched, to avoid confusion However, for reasons WarnerMedia didn't elaborate upon, Cinemax’s original programming and film libraries were not available on HBO Max at launch, and those who want to stream Cinemax without tying themselves to a traditional pay-TV subscription must subscribe to the network's OTT platforms via Apple TV, Hulu, Roku or Prime Video instead. While a limited number of past Cinemax series have since been added to HBO Max, a dedicated portal for the network still doesn't exist, an issue made apparent when selected movie titles transfer between HBO Max (and the legacy licensed OTT channels that HBO retains for grandfathered Apple, Roku and Prime Video subscribers) and Cinemax's streaming platforms. When Warner Bros. Discovery re-branded the service as just Max, jokes came from across social media that Cinemax's branding had won out, despite Cinemax itself remaining unavailable (Cinemax Go, the network's TV Everywhere platform, was shut down in 2022 as a possible casualty of the Max rebranding).
• Network to the Rescue: After several years of fan campaigns aimed at Warner Bros. and DC Films, it was revealed in May 2020 that Zack Snyder's Justice League (a director's cut of Justice League) would be funded and released the following year on HBO Max.
• No Export for You: Zigzagged, as Max will eventually launch in international markets where HBO already operates as a self-owned channel or a VOD service (Latin America, parts of Europe), but not in all markets where HBO already has a licensing partner. Instead, its original slate will be available through those partners, like Bell Media in Canada (primarily for its streaming service, Crave) or Sky in the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy. Occasionally, WarnerMedia would license Max Originals to other networks and rival services, such as Close Enough being licensed to Netflix internationally. WarnerMedia channels internationally would also air Max Originals on countries when HBO Max is not available since several of their partners have full ownership of the shows created or moved to the service.
  • HBO Max in Latin America also has local content but it's unknown if they'll arrive to the American version. Also, HBO Max acquired rights to stream phenomenons such as PAW Patrol in that region but were later expired. On the other hand, the catalogue has many shows missing seasons, including ones somehow vanishing in the Go-Max transition (only the latest season of Last Week Tonight is available), ones still held by other services (the earlier seasons of Teen Titans Go! and Young Justice (2010) are still on Netflix), and ones with no reasonable explanation (gen:LOCK only has the Max-comissioned season 2).
  • As an inversion, HBO Max in Latin America has gotten certain deep cuts from the Cartoon Network and Warner Bros. libraries (such as Squirrel Boy, Sheep in the Big City, Mike, Lu & Og, Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? Baby Looney Tunes, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi etc...) that have yet to be added to the service in the United States.
  • There's no sign of HBO Max ever coming to France. HBO had a partnership with local brand OCS to stream high profile WBD content, that partnership contractually stopped on January 1, 2023. Instead, Warner Bros Discovery has struck a deal with Amazon in France, with a "Warner Pass" that can be added to Prime Video (which is well established in the country) to stream a lot of WBD content, though Media Chronology laws still prevent recently released theatrical movies from being streamed in France until 22 months after release.
• Out of Order: The Yogi Bear cartoons got scrambled a ton in terms of their order. The first 2 'seasons' consist of Yogi's cartoons from Huckleberry Hound, while Season 3 has Yogi's cartoons from his own show. However, one TYBS cartoon, "Bearface Disguise", was put into Season 2 among the HHS cartoons.
• Regional Bonus: HBO Go Asia- aside from offering content that is on HBO Max and being available to anyone in the region with a credit card and internet access, it also offers unrestricted access to the linear channel feeds even if they don't subscribe to a cable company that carries any of their channels, effectively turning them into an independent Pay TV provider. All this for a very competitive monthly fee to boot.
• Screwed by the Lawyers:
  • While negotiating carriage deals for HBO Max, it was stipulated that certain app platforms (read: those that it would be competing against in the streaming market like Apple, Amazon and Roku) stop selling HBO's OTT channels in exchange for receiving Max, even though HBO Max's broader programming library would afford less content redundancy with the licensed OTT channels than with HBO Now/Go, as the company wanted greater control of advertising data and revenue for an ad-tier plan slated to launch in 2021.^note By comparison, Paramount+ (and predecessor CBS All Access) was able to thread the needle by offering its ad-free tier via Apple, Amazon and Roku's channel platforms along with its standalone apps on their operating systems, while controlling ad revenue through in-app subscriptions of its advertiser-supported tier. Naturally, given that HBO was likely a chief revenue driver for their hubbed streaming "channels" platforms (which consist mainly of premium cable channels and lesser-known niche streaming services), most were reluctant to play ball and tried to both keep the channels and add the HBO Max app, a la the arrangement that existed with the predecessor HBO Now/Go services. Plus, the company's terms were at the expense of the linear HBO channel itself—specifically as the OTT hub channels gave the network's live feeds (which were included with the VOD content on the licensed OTT channels) needed exposure to cord-cutters and cord-nevers, as HBO Max (like its predecessors) doesn't offer live HBO feeds to date. The outcomes that resulted differed but ended in them ultimately giving into terms:
    • Apple agreed without issue to stop selling new HBO subscriptions within its Apple TV app once HBO Max launched in May 2020. (In-app subscriptions of sister channel Cinemax and rival premium channels Showtime, Starz and MGM+ remain continue to be sold through the Apple TV app.) However, the terms of Apple's carriage deal for HBO Max, as those that followed with other major streaming app merchants mentioned below, allow HBO's legacy Apple TV channel to remain available to grandfathered subscribers who signed up prior to HBO Max's formal launch.
    • The service was infamously not available on Amazon Fire and Roku devices for the 5-6 months respectively following its launch in May of 2020 due to disagreements WarnerMedia had with both companies: the former because of Amazon wanting to keep HBO as part of its Amazon Video Channels in-app subscriptions, in addition to offering the standalone HBO Max app (a la the arrangement HBO had with Apple and still has with Amazon and Roku involving the former HBO Now and HBO's hubbed streaming "channels") and the latter because of disagreements if how the company would control advertising data and revenue for the service's ad-tier plan coming in 2021. Amazon eventually capitulated and agreed to stop selling new subscriptions of the HBO channel to Prime Video customers (once HBO's OTT deal with Amazon expired sometime in 2021) in exchange for rolling out the app for Fire devices in November 2020, with existing subscribers to the channel being able to log into Max with their Amazon credentials (an arrangement that HBO made with Apple and Hulu when the service was prepping launch, though Hulu was allowed to continue offering the live feeds of the HBO networks within their platform, as it is structured as a hybrid VOD/pay-TV platform that optionally sells tiers of cable channels owned by WBD, Hulu co-parents Disney and NBCUniversal, and other companies). Similar disagreements with Roku were resolved a month later.
  • Due to contractual reasons, films and shows licensed to sister services, such as DC Universe and Cinemax, are currently unavailable. This also applies to films and series that are licensed to rival streaming services, such as Netflix and Hulu, such as most of The CW's pre-2019 programming that are produced by Warner Bros..
    • Thankfully, certain films that were available only on Cinemax eventually came to the service, while DC Universe's relaunch as digital comics-only platform necessitated a Channel Hop of its own original programming.
  • The original runs of Veronica Mars and Animaniacs are also excluded due to Hulu owning the rights to the shows' revivals.
  • For Doctor Who, only the episodes of the Ninth to Thirteenth Doctors are available because the BBC and ITV-owned ITVX owns the streaming rights to the classic series and Disney+ those to the Fourteenth Doctor onward.
  • Naturally, this also applies to shows produced for other entities. For example, Warner Bros. produced Shameless (US) for Showtime and Nip/Tuck for FX Networks. ^note  In addition, the former show is on Netflix and services that have Showtime as an add-on, while the latter is on Hulu as part of the "FX on Hulu" hub.
  • Shows that suffered from copyright issues over music and/or ownership disputes are very unlikely to come to the service. Don't expect to see The Drew Carey Show, Murphy Brown, or certain episodes of MADtv any time soon.
  • Not even Warner-owned films are safe, as films and series owned by the company are being pulled from the service months after launch, like the Harry Potter franchise and certain Warner Bros. films due to prior agreements with other services, with NBCUniversal still owning streaming and broadcasting rights to the Harry Potter films until 2025. (Warner has rights to stream the films for a limited time starting in 2021). This also includes shows from WB (and CN) that are still on Boomerang.
  • The network's very first original series for kids and families, Fraggle Rock, is absent due to being owned by The Jim Henson Company, and as one of their assets that wasn't acquired by Disney, they're keen to hang on to it. Instead, new shorts were produced for Apple TV+, which eventually acquired the streaming rights for the original series, leading to a reboot series, Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock. Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas , which made its American debut on HBO, is missing for the same reasons; it currently streams on Prime Video.
  • The service doesn't have DC Comics content not owned by Warner Bros. such as the 1966-68 Batman series (produced by Fox) and Road to Perdition (co-owned by DreamWorks and Fox).
  • Grave of the Fireflies is the only Studio Ghibli film not on the service since it is owned by Shinchosha (and the film's distributor, Toho) as Ghibli doesn't have the rights to use it in their native Japan. Even though GKIDS (their current US rights owners) later got the American/Canadian theatrical rights to the film but later expired and was given to Sentai Filmworks.
• Screwed by the Network:
  • Little Ellen, an animated series about the youth of Ellen DeGeneres, was highlighted during HBO Max’s 2019 announcement as one of its signature animated programs. After a series of scandals involving The Ellen DeGeneres Show broke in 2020, tarnishing DeGeneres’s reputation, there was almost no information on the status of Little Ellen for over a year. It was eventually redirected to the Cartoonito brand and launched quietly in September 2021, with most of the promotion for the show occurring within a week of its release. At least, it was renewed for two more seasons — but then was cancelled, with a season's worth of material never being aired, and ultimately removed from the service entirely.
  • A huge selection of the service's animated content (including Little Ellen as described above, along with Infinity Train, Summer Camp Island and more) and a number of original films were abruptly pulled from the service in August 2022 as a cost-cutting move by Warner Bros. Discovery, with many shows having entire seasons never airing as a result. Even some of those that were released had never been released in any capacity outside the service, so their purging effectively voided them from legal availability.
• Self-Deprecation: Shortly after launch, the service put out a series of ads acknowledging the confusion between HBO Go, HBO NOW, and HBO Max, presenting characters on Max-hosted shows struggling to explain the difference.
• Snub by Omission: Despite having an ample amount of originals to its name, content from Cinemax was initially not included. This is slowly being averted as HBO Max is starting to add Cinemax shows like Banshee and The Knick.
• Spin-Off: Dune, The Batman and The Suicide Squad are all set to receive spinoffs in streaming series form on HBO Max. The Suicide Squad is the first to receive one, that being Peacemaker, followed by The Penguin (2024), and Dune: Prophecy.
• Superior Successor: The service is this to HBO Now, incorporating programming outside HBO proper.
• What Could Have Been:
  • WarnerMedia had considered branding the service under the Warner Bros. name, but internal brand testing results found that while the iconic shield logo is well-known, the actual name had little-to-no consumer draw or value, or to quote then-CCO Kevin Reilly, "You don’t go to ‘Warners Land’ for vacation."^note Ironically, several "Warner Bros. Movie World" theme parks operate in Australia, Germany, Spain and the UAE; the remark and naming decision also ignored that WarnerMedia used the Warner Bros. name for the Warner TV services in Latin America, France and Southeast Asia, and the defunct WB Television Network in the U.S. As HBO has retained a constant image as a prestige and quality brand thanks to its television dramas, this would make it easier to market to the general public. Later on, Warner Bros. Discovery would remove the HBO part of the branding (simply called it "Max") due to believing it was not appropriate for their soft relaunch of the service, which would now include content from the legacy Discovery Inc. channels; HBO's heavy association with prestige adult dramas was also cited as being a perception issue for family audiences, though the HBO network has also included family-friendly programming for most of its existence.
  • The Grease prequel series Rise of the Pink Ladies was originally intended for HBO Max before being redirected to Paramount+. A Bad Robot-produced Shining series, titled Overlook, was initially announced for HBO Max before being dropped.
  • The DC Extended Universe film Blue Beetle was initially announced as a Max Original, but was later moved to an exclusive theatrical debut instead.
  • A number of projects planned for launches in 2022 were abruptly scrapped by Warner Bros. Discovery despite being finished or nearly finished, including additional seasons of Little Ellen, a DC Extended Universe Batgirl film and a SCOOB! prequel, SCOOB!: Holiday Haunt.
    • The final season of Summer Camp Island, intended to air as a Max Original, instead aired on Cartoon Network, the series' original home.
    • Alongside the cancellations, some planned HBO Max original movies were rerouted to theatrical premieres, including the 2022 House Party remake, Evil Dead Rise and Magic Mike's Last Dance.

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