Fox have perhaps noticed the popularity of The CW's Arrow (based on DC superhero The Green Arrow), so they've ordered a TV series set in the Batman universe. Gotham will focus on the Jim Gordon character (played by Gary Oldman, above, in The Dark Knight trilogy), but won't feature Gotham's most famous citizen Batman/Bruce Wayne.
However, it's likely Batman's celebrated rogue's gallery will make appearances, so we can maybe expect episodes featuring The Joker, The Penguin, Two-Face, The Scarecrow, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Mr Freeze, etc. The show will apparently be an origin story for Gordon and the aforementioned crooks, and I'd be surprised if the idea hasn't been inspired by Gotham Central—a celebrated comic-book series that ran from 2003-06 concerning the city's police force. The key difference being that Batman was a part of the Gotham Central milieu, but will be absent in Fox's Gotham drama.
Interestingly, The WB were once interested in making a Gotham Central television series back in 2003, and only decided against it when 2002's Birds of Prey (their series based on the comic of the same name, concerning female heroines in a future Gotham without Batman) flopped in the ratings and was cancelled after 13 episodes.
Will Gotham work? Perhaps, but I'm not especially interested in an origin story for Commissioner Gordon. A part of me wonders why they don't just return Batman to the small-screen, which would be a far more exciting prospect, but that's probably unlikely until they exhaust the possibilities of Ben Affleck wearing the cowl in Batman vs Superman, and if that launches a new run of Batman films.
Gotham is being masterminded by Bruno Heller (Rome, The Mentalist) and is produced by Warner Bros Television.
[source: Deadline]
