The immediate appeal of Fox's upcoming Gotham show is easy to quantify. Not only does it promise Batfans another taste of their favourite comic book locale, it also boasts established characters like Jim Gordon, Bruce Wayne, The Penguin and Two-Face, if the teases are all to be believed. And even more attractively, the show promises new takes on all of those characters, looking at the Bat family and the rogues' gallery before Bruce Wayne put the cape and cowl on. With new origin stories and young actors portraying other iconic figures like Poison Ivy, Alfred and Catwoman, it's hard not to wonder whether we will get to explore origin stories for all of Batman's most famous characters. Could we see The Riddler turn from conman to master criminal intellect? Might Clayface already be stalking the streets of Gotham in disguise? And what of that most iconic of Batman villains? We already know that the Joker will not appear as the Joker: it stands to reason - not only because the typical and accepted origin for the villain ties him to the Batman, but also because the presence of the Joker without the Batman - his counter-point - would be inconceivable, and we already know that the show is likely to end with Wayne becoming the Bat. But a pre-cursor of the character will turn up in the show, which has been presented as a spawning ground for iconic villains, and that begs the irresistible question of how would they go about casting him? There are of course several directions they could go with the Joker origin: they could go for a joker similar to the flashbacks in Alan Moore's The Killing Joke where it was alleged the Joker was an unnamed stand up comic who was down on his luck before turning to crime to support his pregnant wife, which of course would also bring the opportunity to introduce the Red Hood. Or the writers could take liberties and come up with a whole new Joker, say perhaps a rival classmate of Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) who could be smarter than him but less athletic, harbouring envious hatred for the young heir thanks to his perceived greater life.... But then we probably wouldn't want to see Gotham Babies, and it's pretty clear that Austin Powers already went in that exact direction. Either way, with the show underway for a Fall 2014 airdate possibilities of the Joker being in the series is still up in the air. There is certainly time to cast a young Joker fore-runner, but it is clear that he would need to be the right age (younger than Gordon, but possibly older than Bruce Wayne) and that the way he carries himself in past roles would fit the character.
