Gotham Knights premiered on The CW earlier this week with relatively little fanfare, but there was one small moment in that first episode which has proven to be predictably controversial.
Batman only plays a very minor (pretty much nonexistent) role in the series, but following his murder, The Joker's daughter, Duela Doe, is the prime suspect. After she's arrested and questioned by District Attorney Harvey Dent, he mentions that she had the motivation to kill the Dark Knight as a means of avenging her father.
Later, the newly created Turner Hayes - Bruce's adopted son - also confirms that Batman killed The Joker prior to his demise.
The Caped Crusader is typically portrayed as a superhero with a strict no-killing rule, though there are plenty of live-action versions of the character who have killed. Michael Keaton dished out lethal justice, while Ben Affleck's Batman came under fire for brutally dispatching crooks in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Titans' Bruce also killed The Joker, of course, and George Clooney and Robert Pattinson are the only modern live-action Batmans to not kill on screen. It's a shame that's such a rarity, in all honesty, especially as it contradicts how the character is portrayed on the page.
Actor David Miller plays Batman in Gotham Knights, but Misha Collins (who plays Harvey Dent) revealed in a recent interview that Supernatural star Jensen Ackles was eyed for the role at one point.
"I don't know if I'm supposed to reveal this, but we tried to work it out to have Jensen play Batman on the show. It was all kind of teed up, but unfortunately, Jensen was on another show at the time, and coordinating between two series is challenging," Collins explained. "So it didn't ultimately end up working out, but we tried."
Gotham Knights' first season will consist of 13 episodes, though there's no word on a season 2 renewal.