Although DC and The CW will likely be launching “The Flash” around this time next year, Marvel has dominated the TV news cycle with the debut of “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” and possibly even a show based around “Agent Carter.” But now DC is bringing out the big guns.
Deadline is reporting that after a bidding war between the broadcast networks, Fox has given a series commitment to “Gotham,” a new TV show that will tell the origin of James Gordon before he became the Police Commissioner. In “Gotham,” Gordon will still be a detective and some of Batman’s villains will appear. However, Batman himself is still off limits for TV and he will not be in the series at all.
Bruno Heller (creator of “The Mentalist”) is spearheading “Gotham” and he will presumably write the pilot episode and executive produce the series. The timing of the announcement clearly seems designed to draw attention away from “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” and other Marvel projects. But it’s a good sign that “Gotham” wasn’t relegated to The CW. If it had been, we probably would have gotten a teenage Gordon.
James Gordon dates back to Batman’s first appearance in Detective Comics # 27 by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. Gordon has been a frequent supporting cast member in the Batman comics and in the subsequent adaptations to other media. Most recently, Gary Oldman (pictured above) played Gordon in The Dark Knight trilogy.
Ten years ago, the WB network was rumored to be considering an adaptation of Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka and Michael Lark’s Gotham Central comic book; which was a police procedural that barely had Batman or Gordon in it. Years later, Brubaker confirmed that Gotham Central had been under consideration for a TV series.
The WB did greenlight a “Birds of Prey” TV series in 2002 that featured Ashley Scott as Helena Kyle, the daughter of Bruce Wayne/Batman and Selina Kyle/Catwoman. However, “Birds of Prey” was canceled after only 13 episodes and Batman characters have largely been off limits on TV in the decade that followed.
With the series order already in place, “Gotham” will likely launch on Fox in Fall 2014.
