Gotham Knights will arrive on The CW to take the superhero action back to Gotham City, although not by revisiting the world of Batwoman. The new series centers on a new cast of characters in the wake of Batman’s death. With the Dark Knight's adopted son framed for murder and joining forces with some unlikely characters in the aftermath, the stage is set for a different kind of superhero show than was ever part of the Arrowverse. And Supernatural alum Misha Collins is on board for the ride as Harvey Dent himself! Ahead of the series premiere, his fellow cast members opened up about working with Collins… and jam is involved!
There are few actors who could have come to Gotham Knights with more recent experience on The CW than Misha Collins (with his former Supernatural co-stars Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki already busy on the network with The Winchesters and Walker, respectively). The new show takes him from playing the angel Castiel to an iconic DC Comics character who becomes the villain known as Two-Face. The cast of Gotham Knights spoke with CinemaBlend at SCAD TVfest in Atlanta shortly after the show's panel, and I seized the opportunity to ask their thoughts on working with Collins as such a longtime CW star.
Oscar Morgan stars in Gotham Knights as Batman’s adopted son, although not Dick Grayson or Jason Todd or Tim Drake. The new show’s adopted son of Batman is an original character by the name of Turner Hayes, which means a blank slate for the show to explore. The actor shared his take on working with Collins, saying:
Misha is very smelly. [laughs] No, I'm joking. I always try and say something mean about Misha when they ask, but it's just because it's the farthest thing from the truth. He's really really lovely. He's great. We didn't get to spend as much time as we would have liked to throughout the shoot, but yeah, he's great. He made jam at his house with his hands for Christmas and he gave us all pots of jam.
Harvey Dent may be destined to become a villain, but Oscar Morgan only had good things to say about working with the Supernatural veteran. Apparently, Misha Collins was a co-star who not only made a good impression on his co-star, but also brought some homemade jam to set for the holidays. What’s not to love about some Christmas jam? Olivia Rose Keegan, who plays Duela Doe (who may or may not be the Joker’s daughter, based on the promo), agreed with Morgan and said “That’s Misha in a nutshell."
Navia Robinson joined the cast of Gotham Knights to play a Robin with a DC Comics background: Carrie Kelley, a.k.a. the Robin from Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. Superhero fans will have to wait until the new CW show premieres to see how Robinson’s Carrie Kelley compares to the one from the comics, but she opened up early about working with Misha Collins:
He's so invested in this show, as well, just as the rest of us are, which is really nice to see from somebody who is a veteran.
Misha Collins certainly is a TV veteran; after debuting as Castiel in Season 4 of Supernatural, he went on to appear in every season of the long-running show. He took a brief CW break after the end of Supernatural in 2020 before returning for Gotham Knights. Rahart Adams, who plays Brody March for the new show, said that it was an “absolute pleasure” to work with Collins, and elaborated:
The man's a legend. He's so humble. He's always looking out for us, and he gave us all jam for Christmas. He made jam himself and gave us all jam. How nice is that?
Another mention of the jam! It’s probably extremely safe to say that one of the Gotham Knights subplots isn’t going to be Harvey Dent as a future supervillain with a jam-making hobby, but Collins’ Christmas gift was clearly memorable. Anna Lore, who plays Stephanie Brown – a.k.a. Spoiler in the pages of DC Comics and other adaptations – joked that he’s an “absolute nightmare” before making it very clear that she was kidding, but he’d think it was funny.
The two stars portraying the Row siblings had their thoughts as well! Fallon Smythe plays protective older sister Harper Row, and described the “wonderful” experience of working with the Supernatural alum:
Working with Misha has been truly wonderful. He has so much more experience and life experiences. He really treats us all like just peers and coworkers and family. It's been really enlightening to be able to pick his brain and kind of hear words of wisdom from someone who's done this for a long time.
Tyler DiChiara plays Harper’s younger brother, Cullen Row, and he opened up about the specific advice that Misha Collins shared with his co-stars before they took the stage for the Gotham Knights panel at SCAD TVfest:
Especially coming here [to SCAD TVfest], he gave us the greatest advice of 'Just talk. It doesn't have to be the most professional answer. They want to hear your opinion. Just do it.' And it's true! He's been doing this for years and he just makes everything sound so professional, but he's just talking. He's just being Misha, and that's all he needs to be. So I'm honored to be working with him, truly.
Unfortunately, the wait is still on for the series premiere of Gotham Knights, which joins The CW’s lineup just as the final show of the Arrowverse approaches its end. The Flash concluding with the current Season 9 after both Batwoman and Legends of Tomorrow were cancelled back in the spring means that Superman & Lois and Gotham Knights will be the network's superhero offerings. Take a look at the promo of what’s on the way with this new cast:
Tune in to The CW on Tuesday, March 14 at 9 p.m. ET for the series premiere of Gotham Knights in the 2023 TV premiere schedule, immediately following the beginning of Superman & Lois Season 3. The new show follows Turner Hayes and his new unlikely allies after they’re framed for the murder of Bruce Wayne, with the help of his best friend Stephanie Brown as well as Carrie Kelley. Where Harvey Dent will fit in and how long it will take for him to become Two-Face… well, tune in to find out!
