Gotham Knights (2023) / YMMV

Audience-Alienating Premise: When the show was first announced, audiences weren't pleased that it was going to be yet another Batman adaptation for TV without Batman, let alone one focusing on a Canon Foreigner instead of any of Bruce's previous adopted/biological children, which was due to Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Tim Drake appearing on Titans (2018), and Damian Wayne being earmarked for James Gunn's The Brave and the Bold film.
Awesome Music: "Bad to Be Good" end with Bob Moses' "Broken Belief", about social corruption and inequality, playing over a montage showing just how large and ingrained the Court of Owls is in Gotham society. The pulsing beat and grim lyrics help drive home that the fledgling Knights are in way over their heads.
The Firefly Effect: Other than the initial negative reaction the series' trailer received, another challenge working against the series was that this was one of only three new shows that were greenlit in light of the CW being purchased by Nexstar, who made it clear that they were not looking to spend a lot of money on scripted programming by canceling several series before Gotham Knights premiered. Veteran series like The Flash (2014) and Riverdale started their final runs during the Fall 2022-Spring 2023 TV season, and the other two new series were canceled. And on top of that, James Gunn reshuffled DC Studios's film/television output into a more cohesive universe, jettisoning out most works associated with the DC Extended Universe and Arrowverse, outside of a few popular works. And no one thought the series had a chance of renewal over the only other CW superhero series Superman & Lois, which had received higher ratings and acclaim^note. With all these factors, it's no surprise that the potential audience responded with hesitance, giving the show weak-to-modest ratings. In fact, the producers were aware of this during filming and decided to end the first season mostly on a conclusive note in anticipation of a cancellation.
Friendly Fandoms: With The Winchesters, which is produced by and guest stars Misha Collins's Supernatural castmate Jensen Ackles (who was originally supposed to appear as Bruce Wayne in Gotham Knights). They premiered on The CW in close succession and are having a simultaneous #SaveTheWinchesters #RenewGothamKnights campaign.
Hilarious in Hindsight: In the pilot, Stephanie mentions Turner hooking up with Olive Silverlock (of Gotham Academy fame). Stephanie's comic book counterpart was briefly paired with Kyle Mizoguchi, Olive's ex-boyfriend.
I Knew It!: A few viewers familiar with Duela's history in the comics predicted that the show would go the same route as her early appearances and reveal that Harvey Dent is her real father, which turned out to be the case.
It's the Same, Now It Sucks!:
- One common criticism is that this is another Batman adaptation without Batman; specifically, when Batman is no longer around to protect Gotham, a close relative of his follows in his footsteps to protect Gotham in a post-Batman world. Birds of Prey (2002) (his daughter Helena Kyle), Batman Beyond (his chosen successor and unknowing biological son Terry McGinnis), Batwoman (2019) (his cousin Kate Kane), Titans (2018) Season 3 (his adopted son Dick Grayson), etc. The series Pennyworth also didn't have Batman, due to being set before his birth, and the series Gotham had Bruce Wayne but no Batman (until the finale) because Bruce was a boy during it.
- Also not helping matters is, though it's not connected to the Arrowverse shows, many perceive it as having a lot of similarities to them in style and tone (it's created by the same people who worked on Batwoman) and, like them, it's airing on The CW (on the same night as Superman & Lois), so those shows' sizeable hatedom among DC's fanbase extended to this.
Just Here for Godzilla:
- A significant chunk of the show's audience tunes in solely for Misha Collins as Harvey Dent, with most of the attention on social media centered around him, eventually leading to the hashtag #ZaddyDent.
- Some fans became interested in the show purely due to its focus on the Bat-Family, including characters that are rarely seen outside of the comics like Stephanie Brown, Harper Row, and Carrie Kelley. Given that there are very few adaptations focused on the Bat-Family in general (since DC prefers to focus solely on Batman and his rogues, often only including the Robins and Barbara Gordon at most), it quickly became a draw for some Batman fans who want to see the Bat-Family and its lesser known members depicted in live-action.
LGBT Fanbase: Gotham Knights gained a decent sized queer fandom pretty quickly, due to roughly half the cast being LGBT and in the case of Cullen, he is played by a queer actor, Tyler DiChiara. There was much rejoicing when Stephanie Brown realized she was a lesbian and she and Harper finally admitted their feelings towards each other, resulting in the Sharper pairing.
Moral Event Horizon: Rebecca March takes a flying leap over it in episode 10 when she murders her son in cold blood, even if it is temporary.
Older Than They Think: With Turner Hayes being a Canon Foreigner serving as the lead, some viewers have assumed that his team are also made up of original characters. That is far from the case:
- Duela, being the most notable example of a presumed OC, debuted in Batman Family #6 in 1975 with her famed "Joker's Daughter" moniker.
- Carrie Kelley, the Robin of The Dark Knight Returns, debuted in 1986.
- Harper and Cullen Row debuted in the New 52 era of Batman comics. More recently, they've appeared in the animated series Young Justice (2010) and the web comic Batman: Wayne Family Adventures.
- Cressida Clarke debuted in The Joker (2021), almost two years prior to the show.
Tainted by the Preview: The first official trailer has been met with an extremely negative reception from fans, who were turned off by its cheap-looking production values, generic performances, a subpar premise, and the fact that it stars an unusual collection of Bat-Family-associated characters. Many were especially hostile towards the protagonist being a Canon Foreigner named Turner Hayes, an adopted son of Bruce created exclusively for this show, instead of established comic characters Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, or Tim Drake (all adopted or fostered by Bruce), or Damian Wayne (who is Bruce's biological son).
They Changed It, Now It Sucks!:
- Despite the name indicating it would focus on the Gotham Knights (IE, the Bat-Family), the show is focused on an Original Character who, at best, seems like a Composite of Bruce Wayne's various adopted sons from the comics, rather than just using Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, or Tim Drake outright, and a cast of largely minor Batman supporting characters, with the only cast member who is an actual 'Gotham Knight' in the comics being Stephanie Brown (who, based on the preview, doesn't appear to be donning any of her previous hero identities).
- Likewise, though very little has been revealed about them, fans are already calling out the changes made to Carrie Kelley and Stephanie Brown. In Carrie's case, ethnicity aside (which very few have a problem with), a classmate of Bruce's son, and was apparently acting as his only Robin, but wearing a costume that doesn't resemble the Robin costume at all. In Stephanie's, she's also now a classmate of Turner's, apparently attends a prestigious high school, and appears much more well off than the working class character of the comics, never mind she doesn't appear to have been a vigilante herself. However, later episodes show that her background (abusive father, opioid-addicted mother who tries to love her daughter but is also abusive) is otherwise intact, which may ameliorate this trope for some.
Unexpected Character: The inclusion of Carrie Kelley as Robin was a massive shock to fans, since not only was Carrie chosen over the other, more well-known Robins^note, but outside of Frank Miller's Dark Knight series, she is rarely, if ever featured in any Batman media, including the mainline comics.
Visual Effects of Awesome: The series' version of the Batcave has been praised as one of the best-looking Batcaves in live action.
WTH, Costuming Department?: The production values of the costumes appear considerably cheaper than previous live action productions based on Batman, with the design of Batman's costume (shown briefly in the trailer) and Carrie Kelley's Robin costume especially looking like very bad cosplay. The fact fan productions have had better production values has been cause for criticism.

YMMV / Gotham Knights (2023)

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