Gotham The Official Gotham News and discussion thread - Part 1

[Travesty]

Wayne Manor looks similar to Nolan's.

I think it looks pretty cool.

 

[Kane52630]

One Crime Will Unite Two Partners:

[YT]9iy6dQ769oI[/YT]

The Origin Stories Begin:

[YT]nitt8NdnQFk[/YT]

One Detective Will Become A Legend:

[YT]pexzkGXnusE[/YT]

 

[Sawyer]

https://***********/chrisharnick/status/490929261893517312

Chris Harnick
‏@chrisharnick
The Joker on #Gotham? Bruno Heller said it won't be week after week guessing game, but they will play with identity a bit #TCA14

 

[BestGirl]

Holy crap. We're still months away from the premiere and Fox is promoting the hell out of this thing.

 

[Sawyer]

In regards to Ivy...

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/07...is-ivy-pepper?abthid=53cc171d39526be31200000d

Comic book fans have expressed frustration that while every other Batman character has the same name we know from the comics, Poison Ivy stands out because she is named Ivy Pepper, not Pamela Isley. I asked Heller why that is and he gave me an answer he cautioned did delve into spoilers.

"It’s really about being able to tell the secret histories of these stories. If you just re-tell stories exactly as they’ve been told before, whilst you’re being true to the created mythology, you’re not really adding anything to it. So you have to find ways of finding more. And in this case, we’ve set up a situation in which Ivy Pepper, her mom is sick, her dad is dead… She’s going to go to the orphanage. And she’s a nice young girl; relatively undamaged. And she will find people to adopt her. And then we will start on the Poison Ivy story that people are familiar with."

While Heller didn't elaborate from there, there's some pretty obvious guesses one could make about Ivy Pepper's name possibly being changed by her new adoptive parents... and then her eventually reclaiming the name Ivy down the line in a dramatic manner.

 

[Orb]

A extended version of that awesome promo while back with a additional Joker tease!

[YT]O2kFn-FPgLM[/YT]

 

[Sawyer]

Hugo Strange and Harvey Dent are coming!

 

[Kane52630]

Yes to Hugo Strange and Arkham Asylum

and Harvey Dent...? we'll see.

I do like this quote though:

Heller also said Harvey Dent will be a character on the show, but don't expect him to be some classmate of young Bruce Wayne's. "We're playing Harvey Dent slightly older. He's more Gordon's age in this telling. One of the things to avoid in order not to tell a high school story -- which would be great, but it''s a different show on a different network at a different time that I would not be a part of. But he will go back to school and villains will be part of that world."

 

[Sawyer]

I'm sure people will take issue/b**** their heads off about Dent's age change, but I don't care. Bruce and Selina are the same age and as long as they don't bring Dick Grayson or Barbara Gordon in and make them 10 years Bruce's senior, I'm fine with anything.

 

[Kane52630]

Honestly though, it is built like something you'd read in a Elseworlds comic. For me the show will either fail or succeed with the writing, directing, and acting.... and not a narrow view of Batman mythos.

 

[Travesty]

Yeah, pretty much....

 

[Sawyer]

I think this bit from Bruno Heller pretty much summed it up...

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Gotham-Batman-Fox-Comics-1084668.aspx

"What we won't do is break the canonical iron truths of the mythology," executive producer Bruno Heller told reporters at the Television Critics Association's fall previews on Sunday. "It's not a whole new mythology. But issues of chronology, we will play with in a fun way."

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

This show is looking phenomenal!!

I hope we hear word on a UK broadcaster soon. It could very well be FOX.

 

[godisawesome]

I've long thought that Hugo Strange would be the best way to show how Arkham came to be the nightmare it's famous as, and his "monster making" background is perfect for exacerbating the "freaks" in the city. I can see someone like Nygma being incarcerated there and emerging as the Riddler, with an entire subplot showing how Strange encourages his psychosis and helps him act normal while being very much not.

And Dent being older makes sense: a young Batman can be friends with a veteran attorney and politician, and a veteran attorney and politician is kind of required to become a District Attorney. I'm also excited by the implication we'll see a young Victor and Nora Fries (and I hope it's a real Nora Fries, not insanity to Victor's) because their story is arguably the most straight up sympathetic, and it would be awesome if they managed to go the full route and we see Fries become Freeze.

And I do like this quote, which pretty clearly refutes the whole "Gotham is just Smallville for Batman" accusation:

"He's more Gordon's age in this telling. One of the things to avoid in order not to tell a high school story -- which would be great, but it''s a different show on a different network at a different time that I would not be a part of. "

 

[The Guard]

Hugo Strange? Awesome. So pumped for this show.

 

[Rorschach2012]

I'll wait to see how they do it, but i think making Harvey Dent Jim Gordon's age is stupid. I liked the idea of Harvey being Bruce's best friend during childhood.

Maybe Tommy Elliott will be Bruce's best friend in this?

 

[Kane52630]

Kid Tommy Elliott makes the most sense bringing into the show.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Just saw the three new TV spots, this is looking so damn tasty!

 

[Figs]

Just saw the three new TV spots, this is looking so damn tasty!

Hell yeah it is!

When I think about it, these changes don't bother me. It's going to be fun watching a lot of these characters grow over the course of the show, regardless if Dent will be Gordon's age.

 

[Zooks]

How old do you reckon Lex Luthor is in this? Would they age him up (as there has been precedent)? I'd imagine he is probably in his 20s working in on a growing self started Lex Corp.

 

[Kane52630]

Jada Pinkett Smith and Robin Lord Taylor Interview

http://bcove.me/m95gbhxs



Gotta love that enthusiasm from Robin Lord Taylor.

 

[Sawyer]

https://***********/seanpertwee/status/491287112365248513

Sean Pertwee
‏@seanpertwee
Another splendid filming at the Manor with young Master Bruce @realdavidmazouz @geoffjohns @ben_mckenzie @Gotham pic.***********/SAusAQ4ZM4

 

[Naked Shia]

they look great!

 

[Sawyer]

http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/07/22/gotham-the-penguin-interview/

'Gotham': Penguin actor takes our bird-brained questions
By James Hibberd on Jul 22, 2014 at 1:45PM

Those who have seen the pilot of Gotham agree: TV fans are going to be tweeting about Robin Lord Taylor this fall. The young actor and relative newcomer nabbed the role of Oswald Cobblepot (aka The Penguin) on the upcoming Fox series, which details the origins of iconic characters in the Batman universe. In the first episode, we meet Cobblepot as an abused but ambitious underling for gangster Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith). Taylor brings a desperate, jittery energy to the role that’s far more compelling than his campy predecessors—and with a first name like “Robin,” the actor seems destined to play the avian-themed crime lord. We caught up with the enthusiastic Taylor on the Gotham set after watching the Penguin murder an innocent man for his sandwich. (It was tuna, of course.)

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How did you land this part?
Robin Lord Taylor: It’s pretty standard. It was pilot season, and I got the call, and I went in and did just one take. I got a call at some point, “You’re going to LA to test.” So it’s been this series of hurdles. And from where I’m coming from, it’s like a series of gold medals—just to test [for a pilot] is huge thing, at least for me. Then to have it be this project … it’s just amazing.

Were you a fan of the comics?
I wasn’t a big comic person. I was raised on the Tim Burton films. I think one of the first films I ever saw was the first Batman. Superman had happened before that, but this was a groundbreaking moment in terms of bringing superheroes back to something serious and legendary.

Is it weird to think that you were a kid watching Danny DeVito in Batman Returns, not knowing that someday, you’re going to play that character? That’s probably not one of those characters you hope to play, but in this version it’s a very cool role.
I know! Oh yeah, it’s amazing. It’s funny, too, because my name is Robin.

Every time people working on the show reference you, it throws me for a second. Your name is Robin, and you’re in a Batman show, yet you’re playing the Penguin.
People tweeted me the exact same thing. And my whole life I heard “jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg.” It’s all I heard throughout elementary school. But it’s funny what you were saying about this role, because when you’re a kid playing with your friends nobody wants to be the Penguin. But then you get older, and [when] you’re an actor, it’s—for me in particular—it’s the best character ever. Especially in the pilot his story is fascinating.

Have friends joked about your appearance tweaks?
That was the thing. I’m the blondest person alive. Dealing with that has been intense I’ve never dyed my hair before. My friends are going through post-traumatic stress looking at me.

What’s your version of the character like?
It’s before he’s realized his capacity for violence. In the pilot, his journey is so incredible. He starts in this place with very low status, and he tries to establish himself and fails. But all of that gives him everything he needs to become the criminal mastermind that he is. He discovers his full power and full disregard for human life. So when I got the job, I did a lot of research, and the Penguin as a child is bullied relentlessly by his peers for the way he looks and his interests. He’s a kid who reads Shakespeare. He’s an artistic kid and goes to a prep school, and he’s just tortured for it. And how relevant is that? Bullying is such an issue now. And it’s amazing to think Penguin has been around since 1942 and that these issues still carry through.

I read the script thinking this role is tricky to play. Because you don’t want be a parody or cartoonish, but you still want to suggest the Penguin’s bird-like affectations.
That’s the trap you don’t want to fall into. I have a prosthetic nose, and when I heard they were going that direction I got nervous because I want it to be as real as possible. But you’re finding that balance. They came up with the prosthetic. It’s very small and subtle, and more of a suggestion rather than—I’m not going to make an “on the nose” pun. So then I was totally at ease.

But no monocle.
Yet! I’m sure we’ll figure it out. The other thing too, in terms of his walk, we see why that happens. It gives me the impetus … at the start of the show I don’t think he has that penchant for violence, but then it’s hammered home—quite literally. You want it to be as physically accurate as possible.

Can you give us a sense of his ambitions?
He’s a very ambitious character. Interestingly, status-wise, by end of the pilot he’s even at a lower place than the beginning. But it’s a rebirth. He’s on a way to building himself back up. If you follow what happens to the Penguin, he runs everybody. He plays all sides. He has his hands in everything.

In the comics, he’s actually one of Batman’s informants.
Exactly. They have a relationship that goes all the way through that’s also fascinating. It’s not your traditional villain vs. hero. He needs me and I, in a way, need him.

At least you don’t have to worry about being killed off.
Which is the best thing ever. It’s not like The Walking Dead where I showed up to work and they’re all, “We hate to tell you but…”

 

[Hunter Rider]

Hell yeah it is!

When I think about it, these changes don't bother me. It's going to be fun watching a lot of these characters grow over the course of the show, regardless if Dent will be Gordon's age.

Given how many different takes there are in the comics I don't really have an issue with other mediums having their slant on the characters as long as it's good.