After FOX clarified that there was still a chance they could pass on bringing it to series, with a penalty clause in place for Warner Bros. and DC if that was the case, it would appear that the network has officially approved of the pilot footage for Gotham, a prequel television show about the titular city long before Batman would defend it. They’ve just made the announcement that the show will indeed head to series for the 2014/2015 television season.
The news comes with both a condensed and extended version of a reveal trailer on FOX’s official YouTube channel, showing the first long-awaited look at footage in place for the new series. The extended trailer in particular gives glimpses of every lead and recurring actor, most notably Ben McKenzie’s lead protagonist, the young and inexperienced Jim Gordon, just starting his career as a detective for the Gotham City Police Department.
Along with the young Bruce Wayne, we also get our first in-motion look of future Gotham villain personalities, Oswald Cobblepot (Penguin), Edward Nigma (Riddler) and Selina Kyle (Catwoman). Both reveal trailers come with the surprise revelation that Pamela Isley, who would one day become plant-manipulating seductress, Poison Ivy, will be a part of the show as well.
The confirmed presence of Poison Ivy, a villain with legitimate supernatural powers, begs the question of whether Gotham will one day delve into supernatural elements. Might we see the early lives of genuinely super-powered Batman antagonists such as Man-Bat, Ra’s Al Ghul or Clayface? Regardless, it would appear for now that the show is steering away from that, as Pamela is merely shown as a rather young girl simply caring for some house plants to start.
Gotham being ordered to series for this Fall is just one of several Batman-related initiatives to commemorate 2014 being the 75th anniversary of Batman’s creation back in 1939. A new DC animated short, Son of Batman has recently been released for home viewing as well, along with the declaration by DC that July 23rd of this year is, “Batman Day”, whereupon fans can show up at participating retailers to receive a free copy of Detective Comics #27, a re-imagining of the same comic where Batman first made his debut. This comic will also be available to digitally download from DC’s Comics App for free that day.
Warner Bros. Interactive and Rocksteady will also be releasing high-profile Batman-themed video game release, Batman: Arkham Knight this October, said to be a finale for the series of highly well-received stealth-action games. The game will release for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.
Gotham marks the first prospective live-action TV show that DC has planned for the 2014/2015 season to successfully make it to series. Along with a confirmed third season of Green Arrow-starring series, Arrow, currently the most watched and well-received program on The CW, DC is also developing The Flash for this next TV season, a CW spin-off of Arrow starring its titular super-speeding do-gooder, as well as Constantine, inspired by the titular supernatural hunter, which is being handled by NBC.
Eggplante is continuing to stalk your updates on Gotham, so be sure to keep gliding back to us for all of the info on FOX’s high-profile new show!