The announcement of a Batman TV show as first met with excitement - THE CAPED CRUSADER ON OUR SCREENS EVERY WEEK? AND WITH NARY AN OUNCE OF CAMP? - and then bemusement - Wait, Batman's not in it? - and has since sort of wobbled back and forth between the two like a DC-branded Weeble, with every bit of casting and plot news pored over in the way only we nerds can. It certainly an intriguing premise, and considering how popular DC series have been when adapted for TV (besides the shockingly long-running Smallville, the recent success of Arrow has also prompted a Flash show to enter development), it could be pretty darn good. For the most part Gotham is still an unknown quantity, but here's what we do know so far. With some...minor speculation. I told you, I'm a nerd. And I'm sure you are too.
11. It's Not A Batman Show
Which is probably the most important thing we've learned so far. Whilst the titular city is synonymous with the Caped Crusader, we're not going to be seeing him in this show. It's Gotham pre-Batman, which means no spandex, secret underground lair or signals of any kind. It also means that the show is going to be a much more grounded take on the setting, even more so than Christopher Nolan's celebrated Dark Knight trilogy. Those films tried to make superheroes and villains work in a real world setting. From the looks of it, this series aims to make Gotham into a real world setting. Of course, there was still plenty going on in there before Batman donned his cowl and started to punch evil-doers in the face before driving away in a souped-up sportscar. In fact, it's the reason he started doing the whole cowl/punch/drive routine in the first place. We haven't really ever gotten a good look at what the crime-infested streets of Gotham were like before Bats started to clear it up; how did organised crime infiltrate the Gotham City Police, and who was trying to stop it? What sort of bad stuff was going down before there were Penguins and Catwomen and nutters in clown make-up conducting most of it? Well, maybe we'll find out!
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/
