Gotham Knights is yet another Batman show with no Batman

Batman is a popular hero in almost every media. His films are the best in comic film cinema, while his comics rank highly (try looking for a DC comic). Without Batman in it each month); he’s in a bunch of absolutely killer cartoons; he even broke the curse of lousy superhero video games! But if there’s a thorn in the side of the multimedia Bat-Empire, it’s live-action TV. For whatever reason, the Caped Crusader can’t have a normal-ass TV show.

Take a look at the new CW series Gotham Knights. The series, which debuted March 14, is set in Gotham City. Bruce Wayne is shot to death and Batman’s secret identity is revealed. Turner Hayes is the adopted son of Bruce Wayne (Oscar Morgan), who plays an original character for the series. He is then framed and gets in trouble with a bunch of teenage outcasts. There’s orphans Harper Row (Fallon Smythe) and her brother, Cullen (Tyler DiChiara); fellow prep school attendee Stephanie Brown (Anna Lore, playing a character known for her alter ego The Spoiler); Carrie Kelley (Navia Robinson), the current Robin (it is unclear if there have been others); and Duela (Olivia Rose Keegan), the Joker’s daughter.

Eventually, the whole gang is implicated for Wayne’s murder, and they band together to clear their names and fight the true threat: the Court of Owls, a secret society that has pulled Gotham City’s strings in secret for decades. In other words, it is yet another attempt to create a Batman Show without Batman.

Photo by Colin Hutton/HBO Max

Television absolutely Love a Batman-without-Batman show. These happen every day. Gotham KnightsIt is similar to Birds of Prey, The 2002 WB series on a Huntress version that is the superhero daughter of Batman, Catwoman and Catwoman. It was filmed in Gotham without a Batman. Fox’s Gotham hilariously contorted itself in an effort to feature all of Batman’s most famous villains but at a time when Bruce was still a child, ending with his first night out as Batman. HBO Max’s TitansSometimes, the show was very near being a Batman episode. However, it attempted to avoid Batman on screen and occasionally featured an older Bruce Wayne. The CW’s BatwomanWhile it was about another hero, the group found itself in Gotham, where Batman was absent, and another must take his place. And let’s not forget Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman’s Butler, a title that could not be more clear as to what executives think they’re doing here.

When it comes to TV, Batman’s superpower is absence. He’s a name to invoke in order to get people to show up — and hopefully not be too mad about the bait-and-switch you’re pulling. For a long time, the reason for Batman’s weird TV status came down to brand maintenance. Warner Bros. executive didn’t want to diminish the Bat-Brand because it was the most successful Hollywood superhero franchise. (SmallvilleClark Kent’s long-running TV show, starred as Clark Kent. It was originally about Bruce Wayne.

Batman was simply off-limits for TV, and it’s possible that he still is: The forthcoming HBO Max shows spinning out of Matt Reeves’ Batman focus on the Penguin and Arkham Asylum, just outside of Batman’s grasp. This is an odd sentiment, as some of the characters’ biggest successes came from TV: First in the ’60s show starring Adam West that spurred a full-on Bat-Mania, and again in 1992’s Batman: The Animated SeriesThis was the beginning of an entire universe animated DC series and established animation in the home of smart, superhero stories for both children and adults.

Warner Bros. Image Animation

Gotham KnightsThis is a strange time for superhero storytelling. This season feels like the end for an era. The CW’s long-running Arrowverse is coming to an end with this season of The Flash,And while the show isn’t the only non-Arrowverse DC series on the network — there’s also Stargirl and Superman & Lois — it might be the last. This might be why it feels like a throwback to another era of superhero television, where comic book characters have their names transposed over generic archetypes that bear little resemblance to the source material — like the villains of Lois & ClarkWhatever Mutant X was.

Yet in centering itself around the void of an absent Batman — the cast’s entire mission involves the hero’s death and unfinished business — Gotham Knightsdoes not provide a reason to tune in. Ironically, the Arrowverse has managed this feat for more than 10 years, despite being barred by Batman from the last. Those shows plowed ahead with what they had, instead of constantly calling attention to what they didn’t.

Gotham KnightsThe CW airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW, and episodes can be viewed on The CW App.