8 Small Details You Only Notice Rewatching Gotham

2. Joker Inspiration Rather Than The Actual Joker

Gotham Jerome
Fox

Before Gotham first aired, it was said how that debut season would see a Joker tease in each and every episode. The intention there was to keep the audience on its toes, with a slew of potential Jokers served up as anticipation increased over just which of these pretenders would end up being the real Clown Prince of Crime.

Upon going back and watching Gotham from scratch, it actually hits you that there never really was a plan to introduce the Joker as we know and love him.

Executive producer Danny Cannon has publicly stated how there was never to be a Joker in Gotham, but more Gotham was to introduce the mindset and methods that would later go on to inspire the acts of the man who would eventually become the Jester of Genocide.

So while we all thought Jerome was destined to become the Joker, then all thought that Jerome's twin brother Jeremiah was set to be the real Joker, in actuality neither of these rogues were ever intended to be the Harlequin of Hate.

As it happens, even the name Joker was off limits for Gotham - with those elements restricted solely for the big screen.

In this post: 
Gotham
 
Posted On: 
Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.