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Gotham Knights Told a Compelling Story, But It Never Had a Future

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Gotham Knights Told a Compelling Story, But It Never Had a Future

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Gotham Knights Told a Compelling Story, But It Never Had a Future

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Published on July 12, 2023

Screenshot: The CW
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Gotham Knights
Screenshot: The CW

Gotham Knights didn’t stand a chance. The show was announced as a new superhero venture, but its arrival coincided with the end of the CW’s Arrowverse as well as the changing of the guard for DC Studios, leaving the show in a stateless limbo among its DC universe peers. Add to that, the show borrowed its name from a familiar comic series run, and a hyped video game title, but it was connected to neither of them. Gotham Knights also featured a mostly unknown cast of actors playing a mostly unknown cast of characters. The show was doomed to be unwatched and unloved. And, eventually, the show was cancelled after only one season.

Like many others, I was apathetic towards the show. I wasn’t expecting much apart from some light entertainment. The pilot episode introduced us to the central premise of Gotham Knights—Batman is found murdered, and his true identity as Bruce Wayne is revealed. A group of young criminals is implicated in his murder, as is Bruce’s adopted son, Turner Hayes (Oscar Morgan). The fugitives band together and hide out in the city hoping to clear their names. With the help of some friends, they discover that Batman’s death is tied to an old conspiracy that could herald the end of Gotham City.

The pilot has all the hallmarks of a CW series—young characters fighting the system, love triangles, high school hi-jinks, and overcoming trauma. But the show becomes so much more with each episode, ending on a twist or a cliffhanger that keeps you coming back for more. I found myself racing through the screeners I received, and looking forward to each new episode as it came out after. We keep hearing about superhero fatigue, but I found this show intriguing and enjoyable, and I wish it was coming back. The first season has a contained story that will satisfy you, with a teaser at the end that promises the story continues beyond the screen. But I’m still going to miss tuning back into this world.

Some elements of the show may feel derivative. The score sounds like it’s from The Dark Knight trilogy—I thought I was listening to placeholder music in the screeners, but the final episodes had the same issue. Parts of Turner Hayes’ storyline is also an amalgamation of several Robin origin stories. From all the episodes, the finale feels most reminiscent of stories that have come before, especially (unfortunately) the Christopher Nolan trilogy. But again, there are a few twists to keep you guessing.

Gotham Knights
Screenshot: The CW

What works in the show’s favor is the story; comics have always loved secret societies, and the Court of Owls is a surefire way to grab the audience’s attention. The way the show unpacks who the Court is and how long they’ve had their talons in Gotham is compelling. I was invested in these revelations right alongside the main characters, especially because the show’s writers messed with our expectations throughout. If you thought it was weird that Harvey Dent’s (Misha Collins) identity dysmorphia was too convenient, that’s because it was triggered by the Court for their own purposes. Did you think there was something suspicious about Lincoln March (Damon Dayoub) and his wife Rebecca (Lauren Stamile)? You have a point, but you don’t know the half of it. Every time I thought I knew exactly how the story would pan out, the writers added another twist that left me shocked and excited. And they’re able to do that because Gotham Knights plays fast and loose with canon.

We get hints of established characters and Batman’s Rogues Gallery, without retreading the same old characters and storylines. The show also moves away from being Bruce Wayne/Batman’s story, which is a trend that I love. Stories set in Gotham City that aren’t about the city’s richest white boy are so refreshing, and Gotham Knights shows us why. We have a group of youngsters who have to use their street smarts and resourcefulness (plus the use of the school library) to get by.

Stories can’t work without a good set of characters, and despite some early hiccups, the main cast is engaging enough to buoy the story. Their banter and interactions, and their subsequent connection with one another worked beautifully.

The show introduced us to a brand new character, Turner Hayes, Bruce’s adopted son. He doesn’t exist in the comics—Bruce has a lot of sons, his former ward Dick Grayson, his ward-turned adopted son Jason Todd, his foster son (of sorts) Tim Drake, and his biological son Damian Wayne. There’s a reason why none of these characters appear on the show; it’s because they were all, at some point Batman’s sidekick Robin. They knew about Bruce’s secret life as the Caped Crusader and fought crime alongside him. Turner, on Gotham Knights, is shielded from Batman. He’s trained to fight, but not to be a crimefighter. He also starts off the show as incorrigibly privileged and arrogant. So, yeah, none of Bruce’s comic book sons would have fit the bill. For the longest time, Turner was the show’s weakest link, and it didn’t help that Oscar Morgan’s performance was severely lacking for the first half of the season. But he got better; I felt bad for hating on Turner so much, because he grows into a very likeable character by the end of the season. Did we need him? No. Turner felt like the cis white guy the showrunners hinged their hopes on, the audience stand-in that supposedly represents the majority of comic book lovers.

Though Turner is the lead, the show’s stars are the rest of the Gotham Knights. The scene-stealer for many will be Olivia Rose Keegan‘s Duela Doe, the Joker’s daughter. Keegan is so unhinged, yet vulnerable, she’ll win over hearts easily. Her character has a wonderful arc, and though it hinges on romance, I found the chemistry and the thawing of Duela’s heart extremely believable.

Screenshot: The CW

The only character who gets short shrift is Carrie Kelley. As the first live-action Carrie, that too played by an actor of colour, Navia Robinson, she deserved a cool supersuit and to be in the limelight. After all, she’s the only character who has actual superhero experience. Granted, Carrie is younger than the rest of the Knights (she’s only fifteen), but her connection to Bruce Wayne/Batman was often sidelined in favor of Turner’s. I wanted her to headline more of the fights, but she was relegated to being a lookout.

The shining lights of the series, for me at least, are the Row siblings. Fallon Smythe as Harper Row and Tyler DiChiara as her twin Cullen Row are the best. They play siblings so convincingly—down to facial expressions and gestures—it’s eerie. Harper is bisexual and Cullen is trans, and they grew up in an abusive household. Harper is especially overprotective of her brother because she feels he’s had a tougher journey than her, and Cullen keeps trying to break out of her coddling hold. I liked that they don’t have an unnecessary bust up over this; instead, it’s an act of growth and understanding that Harper gives Cullen the chance to take risks on his own. Harper is whip-smart but not precocious; she’s also cautious because she has to look out for Cullen. Harper is an established superhero in the comics, Bluebird, but Cullen is a veritable blank slate, so the writers wrote him as unapologetically empathetic and courageous. He’s my favourite, and I’d love to see this version of Cullen make the jump to comics.

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The Jinn Bot of Shantiport
The Jinn Bot of Shantiport

The Jinn Bot of Shantiport

One of the characters who surprised me was Stephanie Brown (Anna Lore). I thought I knew exactly what the writers were doing with this character—she’s the supersmart blonde who is Turner’s secret love and helps the fugitives despite the risk. That’s what the pilot would have you think. But Stephanie turns into this multidimensional character who brings a completely different perspective to how we view the wealthy in Gotham. She also breaks away from the love triangle storyline pretty quickly, and instead paves her own way to romantic happiness. If you enjoy the enemies to friends to lovers storyline, you are going to love Stephanie’s arc. The romance works because the chemistry between the characters is palpable. I didn’t think Gotham Knights would go down the route it did with Stephanie, but I’m so glad they did.

Misha Collins is probably the most recognizable name on the show. I felt he was far too restrained as Harvey Dent, and really only came to life when the evil Harvey came to the fore. He was positively exuberant in the finale when Harvey becomes Two-Face; where was all that energy in the rest of the season? Harvey could have been controlled without being so unemotive throughout.

Gotham Knights proved to be better, smarter and far more compelling than it had any right to be. The story didn’t rely on established knowledge of the Bat-Universe, though there were a few Easter Eggs to keep fans happy. The creators developed the lore along the way, and hooked us in with twists that compelled the audience to tune in again. By the time the finale came around and the Gotham Knights revealed themselves, I was applauding their audacity and cheering them on. The found family dynamic of the central cast was heart-warming, and the characters were different enough to feel fresh.

I wouldn’t have thought I would even like Gotham Knights, let alone love and genuinely miss this show. It deserved better than to be treated like a D-list villain; and it certainly deserved to deliver more twist-filled stories. But we won’t get that. Let’s keep the love for these hidden heroes of Gotham alive by (re)watching it whenever and wherever we can.

Monita Mohan champions diversity, inclusivity, and representation through her writing at Collider.com, Women Write About Comics, HuffPost, Bam Smack Pow, and Show Snob.

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Monita Mohan

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Monita Mohan champions diversity, inclusivity, and representation through her writing at Collider.com, Women Write About Comics, HuffPost, Bam Smack Pow, and Show Snob.
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ChristopherLBennett
1 year ago

I had a very similar reaction. Gotham Knights was far more engaging and satisfying than Yet Another Batman Series Minus Batman had any business being. I couldn’t care less about the Court of Owls; I deeply hate stories about vast conspiracies that are somehow simultaneously 1) all-encompassing, ancient, and in control of all things yet 2) completely secret. (If they already control everything, why the hell do they have to hide?) But I really liked the characters and their interplay, even if Oscar Morgan’s acting was very much the weak link in the show. And I liked the way the story kept twisting in unexpected directions.

The show was surprisingly faithful to the modern comics continuity, aside from inventing its lead character out of whole cloth, and also expanding and reworking the role of the character who turned out to be the final boss. Although it went back to something closer to the original 1970s version of Duela, a character introduced as “The Joker’s Daughter” and then turning out to be someone else’s, while putting its own twist on it. I agree, Duela’s arc was a highlight of the series, and especially of the finale.

I would’ve liked to see more, though I wonder if they could’ve afforded to keep Two-Face as a regular given that elaborate makeup (CGI?). Still, the finale did resolve the season’s main arcs pretty well, so GK is pretty satsifying as a standalone miniseries. I hope it gains cult popularity on home video, assuming it actually gets marketed for home viewing instead of buried as a tax write-off.

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1 year ago

GOTHAM KNIGHTS’ audience share was pretty well screwed when the fan boys/girls had a hissy fit at the very early first trailer.  The producers decided to retool the series, not that that would help against the more toxic fans.  Most who actually watched the first few episodes were expecting a pile of poop they could laugh at, but that didn’t happen.  A pity the numbers didn’t pick up at this revelation.  

According to insiders workings at the CW, GOTHAM KNIGHTS was one of the two DC series in the running for the final slot for next year’s fall season.  Its main virtue to the CW was that it was as cheap as crap.  The cheapest ARROWverse show, ever.  SUPERMAN & LOIS won that slot by promising to pare down the cast to only the Kent family.  

ChristopherLBennett
1 year ago

@2/MByerly: “The cheapest ARROWverse show, ever.”

Correction: While Gotham Knights was from Berlanti Productions, it had no story connection to the Arrowverse, taking place in a separate continuity with a different version of Batman and Gotham City.

 

“SUPERMAN & LOIS won that slot by promising to pare down the cast to only the Kent family.”

Allegedly. But given the politics of Warner Bros. Discovery’s current owner, I find it suspicious that they cancelled the show with several LGBTQ lead characters while keeping the show that’s been entirely heteronormative aside from a girl kissing Sarah off-camera between seasons. It’s also suspicious that the only actors S&L is keeping as regulars next season are all white ones.

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1 year ago

@3. S&L and GK were ARROWverse shows since they were the same production company.  They wiggled around the term with S&L later by using Crisis as an excuse.  They will always be ARROWverse to me.  

YouTuber Pagey kept up with all the trade articles, etc., I kept up with Pagey, and it was money.  That’s all the CW and its new owners cared about.  They certainly didn’t care about quality since S&L is arguably the best ARROWverse show ever done.  From a financial  perspective, getting rid of the people in Smallville and moving the cast to Metropolis made great sense.  The “Kent farm’s” rent becoming much more expensive also hastened the choices.  

ChristopherLBennett
1 year ago

@4/MByerly: “S&L and GK were ARROWverse shows since they were the same production company.”

That’s not correct. Berlanti Productions makes numerous shows that aren’t in the Arrowverse continuity, including Stargirl, Titans, and Doom Patrol (which all three exist in different universes despite an alternate version of the Doom Patrol existing in Titans‘ universe) as well as non-DC shows such as Riverdale, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Katy Keene, the two All American series, the Kung Fu reboot, and quite a few more.

Superman & Lois is on a separate Earth from Earth-Prime, but is narratively connected to the Arrowverse by using the Crisis as the Irons’ origin story (largely because it was originally meant to be an Earth-Prime show and was retroactively retconned as a separate reality in season 2). Gotham Knights has no narrative connection to the Arrowverse and its version of Gotham City and Batman is incompatible with the Earth-Prime version from Batwoman as well as the version presented in Titans.

 

“From a financial  perspective, getting rid of the people in Smallville and moving the cast to Metropolis made great sense.  The “Kent farm’s” rent becoming much more expensive also hastened the choices.”

No such thing has been announced; it’s nothing but speculation and rumor. The producers say they hope to include the dropped regulars in recurring guest appearances where possible, and a couple of cast members have revealed on social media that they’ll be back for at least a few episodes. That suggests they won’t change the setting. It just means, probably, that the focus on the supporting characters will be spread out over the ten episodes, rather than having most or all of them in every episode.

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Wayne Ligon
1 year ago

Possibly the most unnecessary show ever made, with the possible exception of ‘Pennyworth’. I mean, it was instantly dismissable when we discovered that it would star a character made up for the show – a sure sign it’s being made as cheaply as possible – and feature unrecognizable versions of third- and fourth-string characters. Basically, as thin a veneer of ‘Batman’ as possible while doing standard teen drama. 

I watched the first two episodes and they stank on ice. Also combined with the ‘Titans’-like cinematography that dictates that none of these people can afford light bulbs in their homes. 

At this point, I just hope I can live long enough to get past the era of making shows about villains and every minor hanger-on and supporting cast character, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll get a show about Batman and Robin. 

ChristopherLBennett
1 year ago

@6/Wayne Ligon: Since when was it a bad thing to create original characters? Agent Phil Coulson was created for Iron Man, but he was such a breakout hit character that he got his own spinoff series, one whose season-1 cast consisted almost entirely of newly created characters (plus one comics character that we initially believed was a new character), and they were great. Harley Quinn and Renee Montoya were created for Batman: The Animated Series and have both gone on to become highly popular characters in comics and other media. For that matter, Jimmy Olsen and Perry White were created for the 1940s Superman radio series.

It’s absurd to think that there’s some fundamental difference in worth between original and pre-existing characters. After all, every pre-existing character was newly created once.

 

I actually thought they were going to do a “Skye”-like fakeout with Turner Hayes, that it would turn out he was actually Dick Grayson or Damien Wayne or something, and Bruce had been concealing his identity. Instead, they went in a different direction, one that gave him a different connection to the Batman mythos.

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Cybersnark
1 year ago

Regardless of anything else, Gotham Knights was the first Batman-related product to actually make me care about Harvey Dent as a character rather than just ‘the guy who turns into Two-Face.” We’ve always heard what an important ally and friend he was, but most versions of the story skip over that. This is the first time we’ve really seen him as a genuine upstanding-but-flawed hero (making his fall all the more tragic).

Also, as an alternate timeline (within the established DC multiverse), this makes for a fascinating tragic irony; at some point, Bruce apparently had to choose between Dick Grayson and Turner Hayes. In the traditional timeline(s), Bruce tries to shelter Dick, but Dick insists on becoming a vigilante, initially against Bruce’s better judgment. Turner was apparently more malleable –he had the easy, happy life Bruce wanted to give his adopted son, but because he never became Robin, no one was there to save Bruce from the Court of Owls (Carrie clearly lacks Dick’s round-the-clock access –that’s why she didn’t have a “real” batsuit).

ChristopherLBennett
1 year ago

@8/Cybersnark: “…the first Batman-related product to actually make me care about Harvey Dent…”

Not even Batman: The Animated Series? I still consider that one of the best portrayals of Harvey & Two-Face. Indeed, this version rather reminded me of it.

 

“at some point, Bruce apparently had to choose between Dick Grayson and Turner Hayes.”

Not necessarily. Batman was surprisingly old in this version — 58 at the time of his death, according to the Joe Chill episode. Which means he was 48 when he adopted Turner. And we know Batman and the Joker were around before Duela was born, meaning Batman was active for at least around a decade before he adopted Turner. So Dick could’ve already been Robin, grown up, and moved on by that point. Maybe that’s why Bruce wanted to keep Turner more sheltered from the vigilante life.

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Fred Fitch
1 year ago

I had no idea this show was in the offing until I happened across it.  I also had never heard of the video game, since that’s not something I do.  I do watch Superman & Lois now and again (with ever diminishing enthusiasm), and I just happened in on the show that followed it.  With ever-increasing enthusiasm.  Well, low expectations never hurt, and I had none.  

Correction, please.  This was never a superhero show.  It’s a detective show.  The late Caped Crusader is repeatedly referred to here as The World’s Greatest Detective, and he did after all make his debut in Detective Comics #27.  While there clearly are beings of odd capabilities in this ‘verse (Killer Croc is name checked, never seen), we never really meet any of them, other than the faceless and dialogue-free Talons, increasingly disposable henchmen of the main villain.  There are mysteries Batman was unable to solve, which led to his death.  A group of young adepts framed for his murder pool their wits, and succeed where he failed.  Many of the best Batman stories don’t involve super-beings at all.  Why should it be any different for stories about Batman’s heirs?  

Still, the Mystery is the McGuffin.  The real story is them forging relationships by way of being confined in a relatively small space most of the time (The Belfry, no more implausible than the Batcave, rather less), becoming adults, and facing the question of how to respond to the varyingly moral and immoral legacies of their parents–whether they can follow in their forebears’ footsteps, and to what extent they really want to.  Can they forge their own paths, avoiding the mistakes their parents made, while still learning (in some cases) from the best of what they had to offer.  They also have to learn about trust–when to give and withhold it.  Many of the plot complications stemmed from trusting the wrong person, while misunderstanding someone else’s motivations).  

There were no love triangles.  There were some early hints at that, but they all proved to be red herrings, based on misunderstandings.  Turner and Duela’s developing romance mirrored that of Harper and Stephanie.  (Some people were shipping Carrie and Turner, which is nuts, since Carrie is 15 on the show (Navia Robinson is about five years younger than the rest of the main cast), and her only reaction to learning The Joker’s Daughter had it on with the Son of Batman was a mix of amusement and delight.  She had a warm if at times fraught friendship with both, and was just bemused that they had connected that way.  (Cullen might have had a crush on Turner, but it was never really spelled out, and we don’t even know if he’s gay–or anything at all about Carrie’s orientation, which is just how she likes it).

So the real problem perhaps is if you describe it to someone, it’s going to sound like the usual soapy CW fare, when it’s something rather new, and to me, far preferable.  And far from reaching its full potential, because they had a limited budget, which meant limited time to iron out script problems, and there were a fair few.  I saw a lot of fairly sloppy transitions, that could have been fixed with just a few more minutes of conversation, that the 43 minute eps didn’t allow for.  

And Misha Collins’ journey towards Two-Face had to be serviced.  I get it.  But I have to confess, I didn’t always enjoy it.  This isn’t a show about adults, and they didn’t need that much time to tell us how he got where he was going, since he’s gotten there multiple times before (just like we don’t need to see Batman’s or Superman’s origin ever again).  But it’s Misha Collins.  They had to give him his screen time.  I understand it.  Just a few more eps, or the eps a bit longer, and it would have been no problem at all.

The cliffhanger hurt, because it damages the unity of the group, separates one of the two key couples, and there’s no reason to think we’ll ever see that resolved.  If it happened years from now, they wouldn’t be kids anymore.  

Turner was intentionally a bit off-putting and callow to start with (his arc is to accept the life he had is gone, and the one he got in its place is on the whole preferable), but I didn’t find him arrogant (he apologized abjectly to Duela a short while after meeting her, when her estimation of the GCPD’s honesty was vindicated, then insisted the group save her, because he realized her value to them.  How could he be Bruce Wayne’s son without being privileged?   Stephanie was from a rich family too, but that’s okay because she turned out to be gay?  (For the record, Oscar Morgan is gay, and it’s a bit much to say the diversity of a show with six central characters was somehow diminished by one of them being a ‘cis’ male).  Turner was needed to be the glue that held them together, the point of unity, and the show would have been much less without Oscar Morgan’s performance–and none of them were wholly on point the first couple of eps, including Ms. Keegan, though she got there the fastest.  It was a revelation to see the way she committed to Duela’s divided nature, and made a character first introduced in the 70’s come vividly to life for the first time ever.  (They tried on Batwoman.  It did not work out.  Well, neither did Batwoman).  

I agree it was a really well-balanced cast, and they’d have only gotten better in a second season.  So would the scripts, with many of the problems solved.  But as the article says, there were so many strikes against it before it even premiered, the odds of that happening were nearly zero.  All the more with a vocal section of the DC fanbase treating it as heresy.    As if CW could afford a Batman show, and as if it wouldn’t be unfavorably compared to the movies if they had shelled out for the rights.  (They shelled out for Superman, and the results have been ratings that fell every single season to date).  

My hope is that some kind of TV movie or miniseries can be arranged to tie up the loose ends.  I’d advise everyone who loves it to watch it on Max, let the people there know you’re doing that, and be grateful for for at least a few weeks we had something worth watching.  

I’ve certainly seen far better-produced shows (with many times the budget), but nothing in a long time has gotten me this excited.  Or depressed, to see it end before it had a chance to finish the story.  Somebody has to do that.  Hopefully somebody will.