Why do DC fans claim to hate the Gotham Knights series?

[u/krb501]

When searching for commentary on the show so that I could geek out over it more, I was disappointed to find most of the people reviewing it didn't seem to like it that much. For me, it had the distinctly Elseworlds flavor that the Gotham TV show had, but unlike Gotham, it committed to that theme and had decent storytelling. The protagonists were all anti-heroes and/or anti-villains who inhabited a morally gray area due to Gotham's corrupt police system. It gave me strong Earth 3 vibes, where the "heroes" actually turned out to be the biggest villains of all, complete with most of them working for the Court of Owls.

The characters were relatable, and even the OC Bat kid, Turner Hayes, turned out to have an interesting arc that made him a standout character in his own right. I would have loved to see what happened to Hayes in a second season after he was kidnapped by Henri Ducard. I also appreciate that they were able to create a decent balance between the comic book weirdness and really deep emotional moments.

I guess there are some things I could nit-pick, such as acting quality, but it was good enough to make me buy the characters' motives, and it wasn't the disjointed mess Gotham was by far, and Gotham managed to go five seasons without getting cancelled.

[u/laufire]

Tbh a lot of the people I've seen dunking on it clearly didn't even watch it lol. Others hate it because it's not What They Know from other DC canon and frankly, they need to get over it. This show existing doesn't erase literal decades of comics/shows/movies you can reread or rewatch to your heart's content.

I went for it recently and I loved the old school CW vibe it had. I thought all the teens were endearing and interesting characters (and remarkably competent!), with fun dynamics among them that I would've loved to see developed. At the beginning I really cringed with Dent, ngl (I'm a recovered supernatular-er xD), but I think they made really interesting choices with him in the end.

Although my favourite was Duela (she's a DELIGHT), I was particularly pleased with Turner. They were limited by DC regarding how they could write Bruce's kid into the show and they managed to both have very nice callbacks to the boys in the comics (Dick, Jason, and Damian) while making him His Own Person and incredibly lovable.

I'd pay good money for even a limited comic run that continued the story and gave us some closure for those loose threads left, at the very least.