Gotham Commissioner James Gordon Origins Series

[godisawesome]

The funny thing with Bruce is you wonder just how much they should approach writing his character as writing a kid. I mean, Bruce kind of has to be a highly unusual boy and a different enough teenager that the audience can see him becoming Batman n the future. Mask of the pHantasm did a great job with showing a young adult Bruce Wayne, who's already about 80% Batman but has moments of childish sincerity and teenage humor that make him endearing and sympathetic.

One thing I'd like to see them focus on is the idea of Bruce already beginning to subdue and control his emotions as a kid. We should know his anger's underneath everything, but he's calm and eerily charming the other half of the time. Then he explodes at someone for something justifiably likely to piss him off.

 

[Prison Mike]

It would be cool if they got Pierce Gagnon, the kid from Looper.

I was just thinking about him for Bruce. He plays cranky really well.

 

[Rodrigo90]

It would be cool if Bruce was often brought in by the police after getting into fights with school bullies, meeting Gordon on those occasions.

 

[Paradox1]

I would rather Gordon be assigned to the unsolved murder of the Wayne's. Bruce being that moody brooding kid who's grown tired of the ineffectivness of the GCPD in solving his parents murder till he meets Jim Gordon. Who he instantly believes when he says he will find the person or persons responsible for their death.

 

[Shikamaru]

Bruce should already be established as a kid with superior intellect to other kids IMO. That's the biggest problem I have with most Batman origins. They never address his intelligence pre-parents' death but when you think about it, he had to have been born a genius in terms of detective/deductive skills (much like Tim Drake). There is just no way he can't be. Sure that he has the will, but it can only take you so far.

If you take a look at other intelligent superheroes, each had their intellect established before they became a superhero. Peter Parker was established to be brilliant at science before the spider bite, Tony was established as a brilliant engineer before his kidnap, etc. You could maybe argue Bruce's origin starts at a younger age than Peter/Tony and thus he didn't have his potential discovered, but either way you look it, they still have to address that. At the very least, his parents' death only triggered his potential as a detective. There is no way he was just this normal kid up until that day and then...BAM! Brilliant detective.

If anything, the New 52 made it an ever bigger problem. They establish Bruce was able to deduce who the members of the Court of Owls were shortly after his parents' death with no professional detective training whatsoever. Yep. Nothing genetic in there at all.

That's why they should establish Bruce is a bright kid from the get-go. It doesn't have to be anything in-your-face. Have Gordon visit an elementary school and notice Bruce finishing puzzles at a faster rate than all the kids. Or maybe have Gordon go undercover and Bruce deducing he is a cop in a child-like way (see Detective Conan). Heck, maybe even portray Bruce as a Sherlock Holmes fan that's been reading Doyle's stories since he was young.

 

[Rodrigo90]

For me, they should just approach it naturally.

The kid should be retreating to a fantasy world, that worries Alfred. He's a bright spark of a kid, but the trauma has left him in a fragile state. Like he's no longer talkative or good at making and keeping friends because he prefers his time being alone.

Nobody around him truly understands what he's going through and he refuses to open up about it.

Bruce should be drawn to Gordon at an extent, because he's a real hero to the child. This one good police officer inspires a young Bruce along the road of Batman. That would be nice.

 

[Lencho01]

I just don't see young Bruce lasting too long in private school. And then I don't see any of his tutors lasting too long at Wayne Manor. He'd have to be an extremely voracious learner, wouldn't he?

Well, I could see Bruce just biding his time until he's 18 and done with grade school, but being overall a loner. There is of course just being home schooled by Alfred if that's what he wanted.

 

[declan]

The funny thing with Bruce is you wonder just how much they should approach writing his character as writing a kid. I mean, Bruce kind of has to be a highly unusual boy and a different enough teenager that the audience can see him becoming Batman n the future. Mask of the pHantasm did a great job with showing a young adult Bruce Wayne, who's already about 80% Batman but has moments of childish sincerity and teenage humor that make him endearing and sympathetic.

One thing I'd like to see them focus on is the idea of Bruce already beginning to subdue and control his emotions as a kid. We should know his anger's underneath everything, but he's calm and eerily charming the other half of the time. Then he explodes at someone for something justifiably likely to piss him off.

I really like the idea of a young Bruce learning how to control his rage, but I too really love the idea of him "acting out" occasionally. It would be cool if Gotham had to ask "The Wayne kid did whaat?" After his parents are murdered it would be logical for him to be on people's radar screens for a few years. It's the worst kind of fame imaginable and could be very interesting.

It would be cool if Bruce was often brought in by the police after getting into fights with school bullies, meeting Gordon on those occasions.

Yeah, I just can't see him being around a lot of kids for too long. Kids can be cruel and being cruel to Bruce is just a very bad idea.

Bruce should already be established as a kid with superior intellect to other kids IMO. That's the biggest problem I have with most Batman origins. They never address his intelligence pre-parents' death but when you think about it, he had to have been born a genius in terms of detective/deductive skills (much like Tim Drake). There is just no way he can't be. Sure that he has the will, but it can only take you so far.

If anything, the New 52 made it an ever bigger problem. They establish Bruce was able to deduce who the members of the Court of Owls were shortly after his parents' death with no professional detective training whatsoever. Yep. Nothing genetic in there at all.

That's why they should establish Bruce is a bright kid from the get-go. It doesn't have to be anything in-your-face. Have Gordon visit an elementary school and notice Bruce finishing puzzles at a faster rate than all the kids. Or maybe have Gordon go undercover and Bruce deducing he is a cop in a child-like way (see Detective Conan). Heck, maybe even portray Bruce as a Sherlock Holmes fan that's been reading Doyle's stories since he was young.

Yep, it's just ripe with material, and it doesn't mean Bruce's character needs much screen time to be a strong undercurrent/parallel to the changes that are occuring in Gotham and that Gordon has to confront everyday.

In the comics I loved it when Batman had cases that reeked of the Joker, and sometimes he was involved and sometimes he wasn't and sometimes he didn't even appear in this stories. But his presence always loomed large.

I think they can pull that off with Bruce, especially if Gordon has to occasionally cover up or "fix" some of the things Bruce does. I don't see why that has to distract attention from Gordon & the GPD, but most people seem to think it won't work. I don't get it...

 

[Rodrigo90]

The only kid I can see Bruce befriending is Harvey Dent and that would would be of course if he's in it like in the comics.

The two share a strong belief in right and justice because of the backgrounds they've had.

As for the kids, he should be a loner amongst them.
And Bruce has undisciplined rage right now, so I imagine him taking down a bully if he sees one attempting to take money from others.

 

[Gee]

I'd love to see a young Renee Montoya as a rookie cop.

 

[terry78]

Just don't turn him into one of those cliche weird angsty kids. He should appear and act normal on the surface but you only catch like subtle glimpses of the anger and lonely nature.

 

[Rodrigo90]

No.

The illusion of him trying to appear normal fits the character best and to see it in a child would be even more unnerving, not to mention more tragic. Him trying to hold it together at such a young age.

 

[Rodrigo90]

Maybe there will be a struggle in him trying to be normal and happy again.

 

[Paradox1]

I don't see Bruce as a kid who could hold it together. I think they should depict him as a child without the proper love and guidance could be a super villain.

 

[Rodrigo90]

Attempting normality is just the front he puts up like in the comics. It wouldn't be a too far out idea to see him like that in some form.

But it would be cool to see him go down that path of nearing psychopathy.

 

[Loki882]

You know the scene in Batman Begins where Gordon tries to comfort a young Bruce after his parent's deaths. That was a small and simple scene, but it was well done. This show can do scenes like that, but on a regular basis. You can have Gordon be a fixture in young Bruce's life. It would be interesting to see and it'd add a new layer to their friendship once Bruce becomes Batman.

 

[Loki882]

I'd love to see a young Renee Montoya as a rookie cop.

Yeah, I'd like to see that to. I'd also like to see Crispus Allen and Maggie Sawyer appear as well.

 

[Boy Scout]

Would anyone here be alright with major changes to the mythology if they work well within the context of the show? I realize it's an odd question to ask (not least of all because they haven't shot a single second of footage), but I'm curious.

 

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Would anyone here be alright with major changes to the mythology if they work well within the context of the show? I realize it's an odd question to ask (not least of all because they haven't shot a single second of footage), but I'm curious.

I'm always cool with major changes to the mythology if they work well for the story the filmmakers want to tell.

Anything specific you were thinking about?

 

[declan]

Would anyone here be alright with major changes to the mythology if they work well within the context of the show? I realize it's an odd question to ask (not least of all because they haven't shot a single second of footage), but I'm curious.

The trouble is everyone believes in a different mythology. Having Gordon in Bruce's life after his parents murders is a big break in canon for me. It bothered me when Nolan did it because it seemed really forced, but for this TV show I think it's a great idea.

I'm trying to think of what would really bother me - maybe if Alfred's too different - but he'll be a minor character anyway. Gordon, well I think you'd really have a hard time screwing that character up

Regarding the villains I want Selina to be no more than 5 years older than Bruce, but that's about all it. And no I don't care about freaky villains showing up well before Batman. I've never bought into the idea that Batman's presence makes Gotham's bad guys psychotic, it has always seemed logical to me it's the other way around.

 

[godisawesome]

Changes in canon come with any reinterpretation, but I'm fine with most as long as their evolution remains logical and grounded in the core principles of the story. Ra's as Bruce's master worked in Batman Begins because they welded the surrogate father angle of his character into Bruce's training years and it evolved organically. And I think the writers at Fox probably have better precedents to follow as far as adaptations go than we would have seen a decade ago.

Personally, I think Bruce should have Tommy Elliot as a peer for a season or two, and maybe bump into Zatanna for a Halloween episode with a very ambiguous take on supernatural powers to establish that while he may not believe in the supernatural he can react to it. I think Selina should be his age or younger, and she never really needs to interact with him; a little orphan girl with issues might work better with Bullock or Gordon as another example of how Gotham has failed it's people.

And I've long believed that if you wanted to give Bruce a young love interest, there's a lot of potential in welding Andrea Beaumont to Talia Al Ghul during Bruce's travels abroad. Like while he's training under Ducard he meets a refugee girl in search of her father, they get together but break apart, Talia finds her father and that's how Ra's discovers Bruce Wayne.

 

[Loki882]

You could just introduce Zatanna as a young girl that Bruce befriends. In the comics, Alfred called in her dad to perform after the Wayne's died to try and cheer Bruce up at least a little. Ultimately, it was Zatanna who was able to do that.

 

[Loki882]

The trouble is everyone believes in a different mythology. Having Gordon in Bruce's life after his parents murders is a big break in canon for me. It bothered me when Nolan did it because it seemed really forced, but for this TV show I think it's a great idea.

I'm trying to think of what would really bother me - maybe if Alfred's too different - but he'll be a minor character anyway. Gordon, well I think you'd really have a hard time screwing that character up

Regarding the villains I want Selina to be no more than 5 years older than Bruce, but that's about all it. And no I don't care about freaky villains showing up well before Batman. I've never bought into the idea that Batman's presence makes Gotham's bad guys psychotic, it has always seemed logical to me it's the other way around.

How was it forced exactly? He was a cop in a police station, and he interact with Bruce for all of like two minutes. It wasn't forced at all.

 

[roach]

Gordon and Bruce being friends is not a break in cannon.

 

[roach]