Much to the chagrin of Bat-purists everywhere, Gotham is fairly shameless when it comes to using Batman's villains. Fans were quick to pontificate regarding that approach, proclaiming that the sole reason for most Bat-villains' existences was the Dark Knight himself; no Batman, no villains - it's that simple.
Apparently.
While Gotham's decision to focus on Batman's rogues this early on could be considered lazy in some respects, fans have to be realistic. While there are no shortage of comic book enthusiasts out there who'd flock to a show revolving around, say, Gotham Central, most mainstream Bat-fans wouldn't see the appeal. Undoubtedly the most compelling aspect of the Caped Crusader's world is his villains - to ignore them in a TV series would be to shoot the show in its foot.
And besides, they're not even Gotham's most problematic aspect. What is frustrating, however, is how quickly the series fast-tracked Bruce Wayne's path to vigilantism. While there's nothing in the Bat-manual that says Batman must be present for his villains to be, there is something uniquely jarring about a young Bruce taking to the streets before he's seen sixteen, especially since it serves as a massive distraction to the series' stronger moments.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
