Gotham is moving full speed ahead. Fox’s Batman prequel television series reveals the early days of Jim Gordon and the infamous villains of Gotham City. The origin series will include a young Bruce Wayne (around age 12) and classic rogues like Riddler, Penguin, Catwoman and even Joker was mentioned.
This will be first attempt at a television series set in the Batman universe since the WB’s Birds of Prey and it’s the right time here’s why:
The Dark Knight Trilogy – it’s too soon to follow Christopher Nolan’s movie legacy and Christian Bale’s performance. Yes, I know Ben Affleck is portraying the Dark Knight in the Man of Steel sequel but it will be a much older Batman sharing the lead with Henry Cavill as Superman.
The Bat Past Is Always A Great Place To Start Nolan went to the classic comic epics for Batman Begins to show Bruce’s transformation. If you’re reading Scott Snyder’s excellent Batman Zero Year you’re experiencing Bruce Wayne’s first year as the Dark Knight and working with Jim Gordon in The New 52 continuity.
Jim Gordon is cool. He’s the one good cop in a city full of corruption. He’s the one good man who can’t be corrupted. He’s the tough, uncompromising moral center.
Jim Gordon is a hero. For all those reasons above but most importantly he’s the one cop who tried to comfort a sad, scared Bruce. I choked up at the Jim Gordon/Bruce flashback in The Dark Knight Rises when Gordon realized Bruce was Batman. Don’t tell me you didn’t! Gary Oldman is the standard for a young actor to rise to – no pressure!
It really is something we haven’t seen before. How did Jim Gordon stay true and uncorrupted as insane villains were born and the crime families rose to power? How was Bruce raised by Alfred? How did Oswald Cobblepot become a powerful weapons dealer? Can you picture Edward Nygma in high school – probably the advanced and gifted classes? What was a pre-teen Selena Kyle like?
The pressure is on.
Origins are tricky. This audience is a tough crowd. But the thirst for back story is there. The potential for cinematic, action packed and emotional storytelling is there. With a television series there’s so much to reveal and compliment the ongoing, evolving origin of Batman and his extended Gotham City family. By allowing the great Jim Gordon to be in the spotlight and out of Batman’s shadow in Gotham, it will help illuminate the Dark Knight mythos and support why Bruce may be THE greatest superhero of all.
By Editor