For a show that's supposed to be rooted in the past, Gotham sure does spend a lot of time looking forward to the future. Fox's Batman prequel show promised to focus not on the Dark Knight, who's a little kid at the time the series is set, and instead to expand upon the mythology of his city and its people. So rookie detective James Gordon, later to become Commissioner Gordon, instead takes centre stage. He teams up with crooked cop Harvey Bullock, who has connections to the significant criminal element in Gotham - including not only the Maroni and Salvatore crime families but also Jada Pinkett Smith's gangster boss Fish Mooney. Oh, and then there's the dozens of future Batman villains they've already hinted at in the first three episodes. In last month's pilot alone audiences got sneak peeks at the early days of a kid called Ivy who had a thing for plants, a police forensics guy called Edward Nygma who spoke in Riddles, a stand-up comedian making some pretty hackneyed jokes, and henchman Oswald Cobblepot whose limp and hooked nose earn him the unfortunate name of Penguin. Making predictions about the future of Gotham is almost moot, since everybody knows the ultimate fates of most of these characters (namely they'll get beaten up by Bruce Wayne when he's older), but there's still some mysteries yet to be solved, and clues yet to be picked up on. What further members of the Batman rogues gallery will appear? Are there going to be more familiar comic book storylines making it to the small screen? And what's the deal with Gordon's wife and that lady from the major crimes unit? Here are ten hints at what's to come in Gotham.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
