It’s a sad truism of any fandom that certain members love to gatekeep. Sometimes this takes the form of being hostile to potential fans, and sometimes it means rubbishing new content for petty reasons before it’s even been released.
So, it’s not surprising that, alongside the explosion of comic book universes in the past decade, we’ve also seen a huge increase in the number of bitter, sad fans who seem to think other people enjoying the same things as them is a personal affront. The latest example of this is the DC fandom’s reaction to the television series Gotham Knights getting huge streaming numbers.
A recent post on the DC Cinematic Universe subreddit is complaining that the content is doing well on HBO Max, after the network acquired the international streaming rights for the CW show. As it stands, Gotham Knights is third on the most-watched list for the streaming service, with Succession and The Last of Us taking the top two spots. This isn’t exactly bad company to keep, especially as Gotham Knights was panned upon its release by critics and audience members alike.
Since the show premiered in mid-March, the reviews have been pretty awful. On Rotten Tomatoes, it currently holds an approval rating of 18% on the famous Tomatometer, with nine out of 11 critics giving it negative reviews. The audience score is a little more palatable at 49% from over 250 ratings, but still not quite the level a network executive would want to see.
While some comments on the subreddit are levelheaded, pointing out that yes, different people have different tastes, many seem bitter that the world doesn’t seem to agree with their opinions about the new show. A few commenters are gleeful about the fact that the series still has low ratings on the CW. On the subreddit post, some brave souls have even commented that it’s a great watch, and deserves to be number one on the HBO Max ratings list.
Those who don’t spend their lives trawling Twitter and Reddit seem fairly happy with the show.
Gotham Knights follows the adventures of Turner Hayes, the adopted son of the now-deceased Bruce Wayne. When Hayes, two runaways (Harper and Cullen Row) and career criminal Duela are falsely accused of Batman’s murder by Harvey Dent, they band together with Hayes’ friend Stephanie Brown and her classmate Carrie Kelley in an attempt to find out who really killed him. As they unravel the mystery, they discover they’re at the heart of a conspiracy conducted by the Court of Owls, the criminal organization that’s long been an antagonist in the Batman universe.
While there’s no doubt that Gotham Knights has its issues, especially around production quality (caused by the CW downsizing), it’s also gained some praise for its mysterious plot and good acting performances.
For now, the best thing to do is to watch the show yourself and make up your own mind. There’s no doubt that Gotham Knights has a lot of competition, and not just from DCU, Arrowverse, and MCU content. It’s also up against incredible, complex superhero shows like The Boys and The Umbrella Academy, and it is fair to say that it currently doesn’t quite live up to those expectations. But there’s also no doubt that there’s a good show in there if Gotham Knights is just given a chance.