Spoilers forward for the sequence premiere of Gotham Knights on The CW.
Gotham Knights has lastly premiered to ship a brand new tackle an iconic comedian e-book location, in addition to no less than one character title that any Batman fan most likely is aware of nicely. Supernatural alum Misha Collins performs none apart from Harvey Dent for the brand new present. Though Harvey continues to be a standup district legal professional in Gotham Knights at this level, the character is known for his final transformation into the villain Two-Face. Showrunners Chad Fiveash and James Stoteraux opened up about why Collins was the correct man for the job, and there are ties again to Supernatural.
Misha Collins was one of the vital recognizable actors on The CW for greater than a decade when he performed the angel Castiel on Supernatural. He’s really the third of the most important Supernatural stars to return to the community (with Jared Padalecki starring on Walker and Jensen Ackles producing/showing in The Winchesters), and the Gotham Knights showrunners have been already followers earlier than he formally signed on to play the long run Two-Face.
Chad Fiveash and James Stoteraux spoke with CinemaBlend at SCAD TVfest, and when discussing Harvey Dent, Stoteraux defined that the “trick” is making an attempt to make a narrative really feel “shocking, fascinating and compelling” when “everybody is aware of that this character is gonna undergo this transformation.” They needed to discover a approach to make the story of Harvey Dent ultimately changing into Two-Face recent to Gotham Knights, and Fiveash defined the answer:
The first step is solid Misha Collins.
Misha Collins proved that he can ship in style sequence after greater than a decade on Supernatural, and James Stoteraux defined that Gotham Knights wanted to solid “somebody who had such innate goodness, and Misha Collins is rather like one of the best man ever.” Harvey Dent could also be doomed to change into a villain, however to start out, the present wanted – as Chad Fiveash famous – Collins as anyone who’s “so un-Two-Face.” Stoteraux went on:
That was necessary to us as a result of we wished folks to actually see that aspect of the character earlier than the villain story.
Followers of Supernatural actually noticed Misha Collins enjoying character, however Castiel didn’t go from Season 4 to Season 15 with out some transformations, for higher or worse. The Gotham Knights showrunners confirmed that they have been each massive followers of Supernatural again in its day, and that reality got here up in the course of the casting course of. James Stoteraux defined:
It is humorous – once we met with him for the primary time, it was only a actually enjoyable, nice assembly. He was like, ‘Oh, I will present you this episode!’ We’re like, ‘No, we have seen it.’ So we didn’t must be bought on Misha Collins in any respect.
They didn’t reveal what episodes Misha Collins particularly would have proven them, however provided that he appeared in nicely over 100 of Supernatural’s 300+ episodes, there have been quite a lot of choices! Chad Fiveash went on to say that “what’s nice about him is he proceeded to attempt to promote us,” which the showrunners undoubtedly did not want. Stoteraux elaborated:
The assembly was us promoting him. It was additionally fascinating. Like, there have been components of simply his background that we weren’t conscious of, like [that] he was a White Home intern, and that he’d initially began out with political aspirations. It is sensible while you hear that as a result of [of] his activism and he has simply such a drive for social justice… He was excellent for the political aspect of Harvey Dent. It was like, ‘Oh, he completely will get this.’ It was a kind of conferences that you just walked away from that assembly simply being like, ‘I hope he says sure!’
And Misha Collins actually did say sure! The sequence premiere was sufficient to show that sporting a go well with and tie does not make Gotham Knights’ model of Harvey Dent into Castiel 2.0. Supernatural followers are seeing a distinct aspect of the actor, and it feels like Gotham Knights viewers who by no means watched him as Cas will see him nailing the position of Gotham Metropolis’s most iconic district legal professional. The showrunners made it clear that that they had no regrets about Collins after casting him, as they solely had nice issues to say. James Stoteraux raved:
And what? We simply love him a lot. He has additionally simply been such a pacesetter, and as a inventive accomplice, not simply as an actor. It is humorous, he’ll come to us with concepts that you just hearken to and are like, ‘Okay, we’re gonna have to provide him credit score for that as a result of it is such an incredible concept.’
Stoteraux’s feedback echo what Collins’ Gotham Knights co-stars needed to say about working with him, with Rahart Adams (who performs Brody March) praising him as a “legend” who’s “all the time looking for us,” and Fallon Smythe (Harper Rowe) saying that he “actually treats us all like simply friends and coworkers and household.” Chad Fiveash went on to preview how a lot Collins has been concerned in Harvey’s journey behind the scenes in addition to in entrance of the digital camera:
He is been tremendous instrumental within the crafting of Harvey as a personality, and actually that character’s journey. I do not know what we might do with out him. [laughs]
Hopefully the present doesn’t have to fret about doing something with out him, however quite a bit could rely upon how lengthy it takes for Gotham Knights to start Harvey’s transformation into Two-Face. Primarily based on what the showrunners needed to say about how Gotham Knights is dealing with superpowers, there could already be plans for the way the sequence can preserve telling tales past simply the primary season. Plus, James Stoteraux stated:
He has a superb sense of the character, and what he desires to do. It has been a real collaboration. He’ll name up and say ‘I’ve this concept!’ And we’re like, ‘It is entering into! Let’s do it.’
See extra of Misha Collins with new episodes of Gotham Knights on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW, following new episodes of Superman & Lois Season 3. Superheroes are fewer and farther between on the community today with the Arrowverse winding down, and Gotham Knights is discovering methods to inform a narrative with Batman characters and settings while not having the Darkish Knight (who may need been performed by Jensen Ackles if scheduling had labored out) himself.
You can too revisit Collins’ days as Supernatural‘s trenchcoat-wearing angel Castiel streaming with a Netflix subscription, and discover some extra viewing choices on our 2023 TV premiere schedule.
