Gotham: 19 Easter Eggs, In-Jokes And References You Totally Missed
9. Viper Is A Predecessor Of Venom
The time period Gotham is set in has been kept deliberately ambiguous throughout the show's run. The fashions and cars of the main characters are straight out of forties film noir, Gotham City Police Department have computers but they're the kind with the old bulky CRT monitors, and Harvey Bullock wields an old-school flip phone. All of those feel like vague signposts that Gotham is taking at sometime in The Past. That's all you need to know: this is in both the audience and Batman's past, which is why all the technology is slightly worse versions of the sort we use now. That also applies to concepts from the comic books used on the show. Take, for example, Viper, from the episode of the same name. It's a street drug that gifts it user with super strength and endurance for a limited period, and proves to be highly addictive. The name and the drug's effects are both a clear reference to Venom, the drug that powers bad guy Bane and which Batman was briefly hooked on. Viper, Venom, see?
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/
