Batman is one of the most iconic superheroes of all time, but he hasn’t had a live action TV series since the Adam West era “Batman” came to an end in 1968.
The primary reason that Batman never returned to live action television is that the ‘60s series carried a negative stigma for years thanks to its over-the-top campiness. By the time that Tim Burton’s Batman came out in theaters in 1989, Warner Bros. was actively trying to leave the ‘60s Batman series in the past.
Back in 2002, The WB network ordered “Birds of Prey;” which was essentially a Post-Batman TV series that followed his daughter, Helena Kyle, former Batgirl, Barbara Gordon and Dinah Lance. “Birds of Prey” wasn’t exactly faithful to the comic that inspired it and it failed to bring in a sizable audience before it was canceled. After “Birds of Prey,” no one seriously tried to bring the Batman story to live action TV until now.
Next fall, Fox will dive into the world of Batman before Bruce Wayne took up the cowl to avenge his parents’ murder. Last year, “Gotham” landed a rare straight-to-series order from Fox, after a bidding war between several networks. Initially, “Gotham” was said to be an origin story for the future Police Commissioner, Jim Gordon. However, “Gotham” is now slated to be origin of Gordon, Bruce Wayne and the men and women who are destined to become Batman’s greatest enemies.
With production of “Gotham” slated to begin soon, Fox has released the logo for the series and a detailed description of what the show will be about. Among the highlights are the revelation of how Gordon and Wayne will interact in the prequel series and the confirmation that the most famous Batman villains, Joker, Riddler and Two Face will also appear in “Gotham” at some point.
The complete “Gotham” synopsis is reproduced below.
Everyone knows the name Commissioner Gordon. He is one of the crime world’s greatest foes, a man whose reputation is synonymous with law and order. But what is known of Gordon’s story and his rise from rookie detective to Police Commissioner? What did it take to navigate the multiple layers of corruption that secretly ruled Gotham City, the spawning ground of the world’s most iconic villains? And what circumstances created them – the larger-than-life personas who would become Catwoman, The Penguin, The Riddler, Two-Face and The Joker?
“Gotham” is an origin story of the great DC Comics super villains and vigilantes, revealing an entirely new chapter that has never been told. From executive producer/writer Bruno Heller (“The Mentalist,” “Rome”), “Gotham” follows one cop’s rise through a dangerously corrupt city teetering on the edge of evil and chronicles the birth of one of the most popular super heroes of our time.
Growing up in Gotham City’s surrounding suburbs, James Gordon (Ben McKenzie, “Southland,” “The O.C.”) romanticized the city as a glamorous and exciting metropolis where his late father once served as a successful district attorney. Now, two weeks into his new job as a Gotham City detective and engaged to his beloved fiancée, Barbara Kean (Erin Richards, Open Grave, “Breaking In”), Gordon is living his dream – even as he hopes to restore the city back to the pure version he remembers it was as a kid.
Brave, honest and ready to prove himself, the newly-minted detective is partnered with the brash, but shrewd police legend Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue, “Sons of Anarchy,” “Terriers,” “Vikings,” “Copper”), as the two stumble upon the city’s highest-profile case ever: the murder of local billionaires Thomas and Martha Wayne. At the scene of the crime, Gordon meets the sole survivor: the Waynes’ hauntingly intense 12-year-old son, Bruce (David Mazouz, “Touch”), toward whom the young detective feels an inexplicable kinship. Moved by the boy’s profound loss, Gordon vows to catch the killer.
As he navigates the often-underhanded politics of Gotham’s criminal justice system, Gordon will confront imposing gang boss Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith, The Matrix films, “HawthoRNe,” Collateral), and many of the characters who will become some of fiction’s most renowned, enduring villains, including a teenaged Selina Kyle/the future Catwoman (acting newcomer Camren Bicondova) and Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor, “The Walking Dead,” Another Earth).
Although the crime drama will follow Gordon’s turbulent and singular rise through the Gotham City police department, led by Police Captain Sarah Essen (Zabryna Guevara, “Burn Notice”), it also will focus on the unlikely friendship Gordon forms with the young heir to the Wayne fortune, who is being raised by his unflappable butler, Alfred (Sean Pertwee, “Camelot,” “Elementary”). It is a friendship that will last them all of their lives, playing a crucial role in helping the young boy eventually become the crusader he’s destined to be.
