Misha Collins & Oscar Morgan Shed a Light on the 2 Sides of ‘Gotham Knights’

Gotham Knights rises on The CW tonight and while the Arrowverse is no longer with us — nor is Batman, in this case — DC Comics fans do (finally) have something to cheer for. Along with the fabulous Superman & Lois, which precedes it by an hour, this latest entry into SuperTV is a fun ride through familiar territory with a new twist. And we’re into it.

Pulling in deep cuts from the comics, Knights (which boasts a worthy bench of Batwoman-seasoned writers and EPs like Natalie Abrams, Chad Fievash, and James Patrick Stoteraux, the latter two also vets of Gotham) centers on Turner Hayes, the adopted son of Bruce Wayne. Just don’t expect a billionaire playboy redux.

“He’s nice,” offers Oscar Morgan, the instantly likable British actor behind the scion of Wayne-funded privilege. “He wants to be liked by anyone that will like him really, and he’s well-intentioned.” Admitting that the loner Turner “definitely needs to be a part of something,” Morgan laughs at the fact that the kid ultimately finds himself a community “in a freaky way” but first must endure a tragic twist: After his father is murdered in the opener’s early moments, Turner is at first left to grieve alone as the investigation is taken on by family friend and de facto uncle-figure Harvey Dent, played by Supernatural icon Misha Collins.

“Harvey does have a very avuncular role,” agrees Collins, whose D.A. character is nowhere near the notorious villain Batfans know as Two-Face (yet). “His best friend was Bruce Wayne and he’s known Turner since he was seven years old. So he’s been a part of his life for a long time, and when Turner is orphaned, Harvey Dent steps in to care for him and help him and shepherd him along.” Until, as Collins says with a smile, “things quickly go sideways.”

Jasper Savage/The CW

Which is where Turner begins to find his inner cape. By the end of the first episode, Hayes has been framed for his father’s death, along with a bastion of bad seeds from the Bat-canon, including The Joker’s daughter, Duela (Olivia Rose Keegan), and siblings Harper (Fallon Smythe) and Cullen Row (Tyler DiChiara). And even though Dent is leading the charge to catch these kids, he still sees that this young master Wayne learned a lot from pops. “Turner is a reluctant hero for sure,” continues Collins. “He doesn’t want to be a part [of this group] but he’s thrust into this universe and steps into the role, guided by a very strong moral compass. He’s a kind of natural leader.”

With half the town after them, “Gotham is closed off to me and the other [vigilantes],” explains Morgan. “We exist in our hidden space because obviously we’re very wanted.” Even still, Turner and his less-than-super new friends — who get more entertaining and interesting as the season progresses — have a few allies on the outside, including his computer-savvy classmate Stephanie Brown (Anna Lore) and Carrie Kelley (Navia Robinson), a fellow Gotham Academy student who has been working as Batman’s latest Robin. While their nascent adventures find the Knights (as they’re coined by the local news) working as a team to foil Dent and his GCPD forces, Collins reveals that the two sides “start collaborating” before too long.

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“It’s all very complicated,” he offers. “I am the D.A. so I’m beholden to my job and to the voters. But I also have to make sure that Turner and his cadre are actually innocent. As I’m piecing together the puzzle, trying to hunt down and figure out who killed Batman, we also have the problem of trying to fill the crime-fighting vacuum left by his death.” Not only is crime exploding and The Mutant Gang running rampant, but Dent also has to deal with “the very nefarious, mysterious and anonymous cabal of people” known as The Court of Owls. “This is our Enemy #1 in the first season. But the problem is, they’re faceless so we don’t know who they are. They’re the puppet masters pulling the strings of Gotham’s power brokers and they’re deeply corrupt.” Making things even worse? Dent’s dark side. And with that coming, we had Collins flip a coin to answer some hero and villain questions in the video above.

“At the same time as all of this is going on, I’m also fighting my own inner demons because I have identity dysmorphia, which is split-personality disorder. That means that I am trying to keep this hidden part of my personality bottled up while trying to figure out whether I have committed some of these crimes or not,” he says. “I mean, there’s a lot going on!”

Sounds like he could use a hero. Or seven.

Gotham Knights, Series Premiere, Tuesday, March 14, 9/8c, The CW