Gotham-Batman Prequel Series on Fox, Fall 2014

Or an awful indie comedy:

 

New season starts in 10 days.

 

I bet they start getting more pressure to embrace even further the super hero elements.

 

Perhaps, but I also think it'll be more natural for those elements to develop. The longer the series runs, the more the "fantastic" stuff becomes a logical component.

Unless they decide to make the overall narrative skip ahead radically, though, they can't actually introduce Batman for a looooong time!

 

I haven't watched "Gotham" for a while (I've got more episodes waiting on my DVR) but I was impressed by what I've seen. Of all of the characters, I've been most impressed by The Penguin. One of the things they've gotten right is that The Penguin's main strength is his intelligence than his physical abilities (although in the comics he's nowhere as physically weak as he is shown here, despite his appearance he's capable of easily taking down your average thug in a one-on-one fight).

Although it's unlikely, a character I'd like to see them introduce into the series is The Calculator. He started out as a costumed villain with a calculator motif, but he began to shine when it got rid of the costume and became a master information broker for the criminal underworld (he can find it out for you...as long as you pay his fee). In the comics, he became the arch enemy of Oracle (Barbara Gordon, Jim Gordon's daughter) who became a master information broker for the superhero community after she was paralyzed by The Joker.

 

Although it is unlikely that the series will take a massive divergence from the comics continuity, it is possible. As is fitting with a series based on DC Comics, I view "Gotham" as being set on its own Earth, separate from everything that has gone before with its own past, much like The Animated DC Universe, and "Young Justice."

Because of this, "Gotham" has some freedom to go in its own direction and some of its aspects may eventually become part of the comic continuity (I expect that of Fish Mooney). Also, because of this I could see some characters taking an unexpected turn (including a possible death or two that no one saw coming).

 

Yeah Gotham is it's own thing for sure, it doesn't have to adhere strickly to the canon. If it did, Bullock wouldn't be the veteran cop to Jim Gordon's rookie, as in most other versions, Bullock is depicted as at least a few years younger than Jim Gordon by the time of Batman. At this rate some of Batman's foes like Riddler and Two-Face will be old men when Bruce puts on the cowl.

Although, the current Batman comics actually have a 40 something Jim Gordon in the Batman persona subbing for an amnesiac Bruce Wayne, so Perhaps the TV show is influencing the comics in that way.

 

Although is contrary to what has been previously established, making Bullock a grizzled veteran cop works well for the character. But there are other characters who could have filled the role, including: Jim Corrigan (a version of him eventually becomes The Spectre and another version of him is a completely corrupt cop) and Dan Turpin (while he's associated more with Superman, I think his character could fit well in Gotham City).

I think that putting so many of Batman's future foes in the series might work against it in the long run, and it would work better to introduce some interesting original villains rather than just introduce younger versions of the classic villains. It would show us how the Gotham PD has develop ways to deal with the rise of the new class of "unusual" criminals so that they know how to deal with the classic villains when they appear.

If they somewhat follow the comics, I estimate we've got roughly 20 years of comic book time before Batman makes his first appearance in the series. However, this could be sped up by doing what they did in "Young Justice" with five years having passed between the last episode of Season One and the first episode of Season Two. Suddenly, Dick Grayson goes from being Robin to being Nightwing, Tim Drake is now Robin, and so many other changes were just dropped on us without explanation at first.

 

The same with Harvey Dent.

Chad

 

Well in current DC lore, Bruce becomes Batman around age 22. GOTHAM has Bruce at age 12 now I believe, so supposing the show runs 10 years like SMALLVILLE did, we could see the show end with Bruce putting on the cowl and Jim growing a moustache.

Oh and I agree that Bullock works well here, and I personally have no problem with taking some liberties with the time line. However, giving Jim Corrigan an arc of his own and tying it to Jim Gordon would have been a cool way to bring to life eventually Jerry Siegel's other creation.

 

Harvey Dent IS Two-Face.

 

Love the Bullock character.

Next Monday!!!

 

I didn't see Two Face. Call me Red Face.

Chad

 

With Corrigan, there are two ways that they could go that would be interesting:

- Like the original Corrigan (who became The Spectre), Corrigan is a completely straight-arrow police officer who eventually becomes too much a threat to the wrong people to be allowed to live.

- Like the modern Corrigan (who murdered Crispus Allen in cold blood in the miniseries "Infinite Crisis" which leads to Allen becoming the latest Spectre), Corrigan is a completely corrupt cop who has much of the GCPD on his payroll and is far worse than any of the criminals we have seen. A conflict between the moral Gordon and the corrupt Corrigan would be interesting to see.

 

Great great season opener.

 

Premiere was good BUT....I used to think Lex Luthor was the most overused bad guy in the DC universe but with 2 new versions of the Joker happening (tv show and the Suicide Squad movie) within this next year, he gets the title!

 

A fun way to start the show, we see Jim struggling with morality, and Barbara incarcerated, but still playing with fire.... the season is off to a fine beginning!

 

Great first episode.

Supposedly this season is all about the villains....

 

I had no idea "Barbara" was a Brit. Saw are on an interview show yesterday.

 

Ben and Morena are having a baby...

Good for them.

 

Great opener! Can't wait until next week now. The kid playing The Joker is killing it!

 

That was an excellent first episode.

 

All he's done is smile so far.

 

He's channeling Jack , no doubt about it.

This will her second one I believe, see how long.. she's on there till they have to kill
her off because she's pregnant , will it be Barbra or Jerome?

 

I guess you didn't see the episode where he was the main antagonist last season?