Hailing from the network that’s brought viewers everything from Riverdale to Batwoman, Gotham Knights takes familiar elements from The CW’s extensive roster. This time, the caper involves the Caped Crusader himself. But Batman (David Miller) isn’t the one solving the murder — he’s the victim. The show’s protagonist is Turner Hayes (Oscar Morgan), Bruce Wayne’s adoptive son, who opens the show by telling us that the Wayne Enterprises CEO adopted him after his biological parents were killed. (Bruce knows a lot about the subject — just ask Harley Quinn.)
In the wake of Bruce’s murder, Turner is framed for killing the Dark Knight. More precisely, district attorney Harvey Dent (Misha Collins) accuses Turner of hiring the people who killed Bruce. Those suspects, who were near the scene of the crime, including runaways Harper Row (Fallon Smythe), a.k.a. Bluebird, and Cullen Row (Tyler DiChiara), and Duela (Olivia Rose Keegan), the alleged daughter of Joker. Yes, the trio of misfits broke into Wayne Tower, but they certainly didn’t kill Batman, nor were they hired by Turner, who’s now on the run himself.
Not all hope is lost, though. Turner, Duela, and the Rows do have some allies in Gotham. Carrie Kelly (Navia Robinson) — the most recent Robin — is eager to find the actual culprits, and Turner’s best friend Stephanie Brown (Anna Lore), a.k.a. Spoiler, just happens to be an expert coder (and, you know, the daughter of Arthur Brown, a.k.a. Cluemaster. All of this name-clearing and murder mystery-solving is made more dramatic by the fact that Turner didn’t know his adoptive father was Batman. And, just in case the cast of teen fugitives didn’t make this abundantly clear, it should be noted that the show bears no direct relation to the Gotham Knights video game.
There’s no doubt that Gotham Knights sounds a bit like DC Comics and The CW’s take on Disney’s Descendants, which centers on the kids of popular Disney villains (and heroes). However, that’s where the similarities stop. Unlike the ultra-popular Descendants franchise, Gotham Knights probably won’t leave much of an impression on viewers at large. In fact, the boldest thing about the show’s spin on the Batman franchise is that the beloved vigilante makes his Gotham Knights debut as a corpse.
It’s a disappointing turn of events, especially given the generally high quality of The CW’s other DC fare. After all, the Arrowverse — named after the first CW-made DC Comics show, Green Arrow — gave audiences hits like The Flash, which is now in its ninth and final season, as well as Supergirl, Black Lightning, Legends of Tomorrow, Superman & Lois, and Batwoman. In fact, the frustratingly short-lived Batwoman is a prime example of a Batman-adjacent show that centers on Gotham and DC’s Bat-lore without spotlighting Bruce. Instead, Kate Kane (Ruby Rose), Bruce’s cousin, and later Ryan Wilder (Javicia Leslie), step up to protect Gotham in Batman’s absence.
One of the show’s most apparent missteps is Turner Hayes, a character created for the series. Even by Batman standards, Turner is all angst in a way that’s not compelling. It makes one almost miss Titans; at least that show, no matter how uneven, featured plenty of Bruce’s canonical charges. Other cast members turn out solid performances. Olivia Rose Keegan’s Duela recalls Rachel Skarsten’s memorable Beth Kane/Alice in Batwoman as both actors deftly balance emotional turns and unhinged streaks.
The action sequences in Gotham Knights feel more grounded than those of other Arrowverse series; at times, fight scenes in Supergirl or The Flash have veered into low-budget (but always fun) Power Rangers territory, for example. But Turner Hayes’ irritating brooding and the series’ more grownup brawls don’t equate to a good kind of gritty. And the murder mystery component doesn’t harken back to Batman’s noir detective roots like 2022’s The Batman does.
Unfortunately, Gotham Knights wastes a committed ensemble cast and a Bat-boatload of fun Easter eggs. Instead, the show favors the more formulaic aspects of a CW teen drama, which themselves are more successfully showcased in the network’s non-DC offerings. Even the allure of the mysterious Court of Owls, which targets Gotham Knights’ teen fugitives, can’t make up for the paint-by-numbers melodrama that dominates the show’s early episodes.
Unlike Bruce Wayne’s vitals, those of Gotham Knights steadily improve as the series continues. However, it likely won’t be enough of an improvement to save this series from ending up six feet under, alongside the Dark Knight himself.
After its March 14 premiere, Gotham Knights will continue to air new episodes on The CW at 9 pm ET/PT, with new releases available for next-day streaming on The CW app.