Gotham Knights is an American superhero television series developed by Natalie Abrams, Chad Fiveash, and James Stoteraux for The CW. It centers on members of the Batman family and other DC Comics supporting characters. It premiered on March 14, 2023. In June 2023, the series was canceled after one season, and aired its final episode on June 27, 2023.
In the wake of Bruce Wayne's death, his adopted son Turner Hayes forges an unlikely alliance with runaways Harper and Cullen Row, and the criminal Duela, when they are all framed for the murder by the Gotham City Police Department and District Attorney Harvey Dent. The four youths attempt to clear their names and find out who really killed Bruce Wayne, with help from Turner's friend Stephanie Brown and Turner's classmate Carrie Kelley, who is secretly the superhero Robin.
The mystery of who framed them soon leads to the Court of Owls. Over time, they evolve into becoming Gotham City's new protectors known as the "Gotham Knights".
In December 2021, it was reported that a television series adaptation was in development at The CW. The series was written by Natalie Abrams, James Stoteraux, and Chad Fiveash, all of whom also served as executive producers with Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and David Madden through Berlanti Productions. The video game of the same title also takes place in a post-Bruce Wayne Gotham and also features the Court of Owls as antagonists, but the projects are unrelated. In February 2022, The CW ordered a pilot episode to evaluate. When designing the costumes for the pilot, costume designer Jennifer May Nickel, worked with writers Stoteraux and Fiveash, to incorporate aspects of the uniform from the Gotham Academy comic books. In May 2022, The CW picked up Gotham Knights to series.
In May 2023, Brad Schwartz, President of Entertainment at The CW, stated that Gotham Knights was among series that were not profitable directly for The CW and was more expensive than series imported for The CW such as Sullivan's Crossing. On June 12, 2023, The CW canceled the series after one season. Showrunners Chad Fiveash and James Stoteraux stated on June 14 that Warner Bros. Discovery and Berlanti Productions had tried to find another outlet to pick up the series for months before the cancellation, but had been unsuccessful.
In March 2022, Fallon Smythe and Tyler DiChiara were cast for the pilot, followed by Oscar Morgan, Olivia Rose Keegan, and Navia Robinson shortly afterward. Misha Collins revealed that he would portray Harvey Dent. Anna Lore also joined the cast, portraying Stephanie Brown. In April, Rahart Adams was cast as Brody, whose parents were cast in recurring roles for Lauren Stamile and Damon Dayoub after the pilot was picked up to series. In January 2023, Ethan Embry and Sunny Mabrey were cast in recurring capacities as Cluemaster and Crystal Brown. In March 2023, Doug Bradley joined the cast in a recurring role as Joe Chill, with Bradley indicating that he was a fan of Batman but was unaware of who Joe Chill was in the Batman mythology. Storeaux and Fiveash originally intended to depict Bruce Wayne / Batman onscreen in a flashback scene adapting the panel of The Dark Knight Returns where Carrie Kelley presents herself to Batman, for which they wished to have Kevin Conroy, who voiced Batman in several animated media since ' in 1992, play the role in live-action as he did in the Arrowverse crossover "Crisis on Infinite Earths", but Conroy was already too sick to play the part prior to his death in late 2022. Collins tried to convince Jensen Ackles, who voiced Batman in the Tomorrowverse continuity of DC Universe Animated Original Movies, to reprise the role, but ultimately nothing materialized with the showrunners resorting to use a photo double in spite of DC's love for the idea.
Filming for the pilot episode began in April 2022 throughout Toronto, Ontario. Filming for the rest of the season began in Atlanta, Georgia on September 13, 2022.
The first trailer was released on May 31, 2022. The series premiered on March 14, 2023 and the series finale aired on June 27, 2023. It was released on the Max streaming service on July 28, 2023.
The series has been panned by critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an approval rating of 25% with an average rating of 5/10, based on 12 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Never send amateurs to do a Batman's job." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 42 out of 100 based on 4 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".