Fox's Batman prequel series "Gotham," starring Ben McKenzie as police detective Jim Gordon, has a new trailer that teases some of the villains we will see evolve over the course of the show.
In the show, Gordon finds himself returning to the city he loves only to find it mired in crime and corruption. There as detective he will be a driving force in turning back the evil that has taken the city in its grasp.
"This is my city," McKenzie says in the trailer, as he investigates an all-too familiar crime scene. "I've come back because I care what's happening to it. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who cares."
The 45-second trailer gives fans a glimpse at many of the iconic Batman villains we are all familiar with and will see evolve over the course of the show. Edward Nigma, better known as the Riddler, is a forensic scientist, his notebook scribbled with question mark in true Riddler fashion. Catwoman strokes a cat as she watches on. The iconic umbrella of the gangster known as Penguin also makes an appearance and of course there is the Joker, who is hinted at towards the end of the trailer.
Former Fox Chairman of Entertainment Kevin Reilly said in an interview earlier this year that the show's villains wouldn't start out as the iconic costumed evil-doers Batman fans are familiar with.
"We're not starting in that world where the villains are in costume," Reilly said. "You see markers for it that are kind of delicious. You begin to see the evolution of the eccentricities that become those characters, but you really sort of arc there. We don't start out in capes and costumes."
Of course, Gordon is sure to evolve himself. The young detective is currently missing his iconic mustache and glasses usually associated with the character, who will eventually become police commissioner of Gotham city and one of Batman's greatest allies. Whether or not McKenzie will sport the look on the show as goes on is anybody's guess, but series showrunners may be going for more of a "Smallville" approach to the character by distancing this younger Gordon from the character many are already familiar with.
"Gotham" is for all intents and purposes a Batman show minus Batman. Bruce Wayne will appear in the show as a 13-year-old boy, but will audiences ever see him as Batman? Reilly says yes. "The actor will grow-up, if we do our job well he'll be a young man and ready [to be Batman] by the end," he said. "Which isn't to say we might not skip ahead."
"Gotham" premieres Monday, September 22 on Fox.
