I'm not seeing that.
I don't think that is edgy in itself. My takeaway is that Hathaway is clearly a kid that has grown up with legends and these ideas his whole life. He's a product of the UC and has been living with the concept of Newtypes and whatnot much more than the average person. People like Armuro and Char are real to him, even though yes in CCA he didn't spend that much time with them. But it's clear to me he is very close to the myths of those characters. I mean wasn't it Armuro who "spoke" to him before he takes charge of the Gundam. He's a guy who kind of seems like he doesn't know what he's doing.
This story seems to be the aftermath of CCA and as someone who was directly involved, it makes sense that a story would focus on how that entire era has left the next generation. So I don't think it's a stupid concept.
I also don't think he's supposed to be a smart terrorist. You have the scene on Earth where the cab driver is telling him this whole conflict is pretty dumb and pointless. You have Kenneth comparing Mafty to Char and how naive and arrogant it is. And Kenneth isn't 100% framed as a villain either. You also have Hathaway make dumb choices because not only can he not read people, he also seems unsure about being Mafty. He also still has feelings about Quess, which sure an annoying character, but still understandably left a mark. Gigi may also be annoying, but she's supposed to remind him of Quess. She also underlines his insecurity when compared to Kenneth.
I feel like the Penelope pilot is another mirror, especially in dialogue where Kenneth says "this could have been you" basically. Like yeah, Hathaway you could have been an ace Federation pilot, but you're becoming an idiot.
I don't know where it will go. I read the summaries from a blog that claimed the "famous dark ending" isn't exactly what it's always said to be online. It still sounds a bit overdramatic, but I liked the movie because it seems to be smaller scale, but also focused on a character that I feel is interesting because of how flawed they are. I'm not a big UC head and I am someone who enjoys themes and can gloss over plot. I liked the direction in this and felt like it had a more realistic direction than other UC shows. I don't know, I enjoyed it.