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Debate of the Day: A Batman-less Batman Show on Fox?

ByPaul Posted on Updated on

gordon

Well, I just finished wrapping up my thoughts on the pilot to Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, the Avengers-less Avengers show that’s been the most anticipated new drama of the year. And what do I hear as soon as I’m finished? The fact that Fox just won a bidding war for a Batman-less Batman show called Gotham.

The show will follow the adventures of Commissioner Gordon as he tracks down Gotham criminals in the city. It will reportedly NOT feature Batman himself, meaning that perhaps the show is a prequel, taking place when Gordon is just a detective, or perhaps its during one of Batman’s many “gap years” when he gives up the cape until some calamity brings him out of retirement.

What’s clear is that Gotham will have a decent amount of freedom to do what it wants in the universe, more so than SHIELD which must stay within the constraints of the Marvel movies. DC TV properties are all free from the burden of their movie companions. Smallville had nothing to do with Superman Returns or Man of Steel, and it also had nothing to do with Arrow, which is building its own separate JLA roster different from past shows AND movies.

This means that Gotham can pretty much run wild with its characterizations of both Gordon and the famed villains of Gotham. Honestly, this is a great idea. Batman is such a strong universe not just because of the caped crusader, but because he has the best stable of villains out of any hero. Of course it’s going to be risky for the show to try and reinvent big guns like the Joker, but there are a TON of others they can incorporate.

If this is a prequel, I think it would be cool if the pilot was Gordon’s first case being the murder of the Wayne’s and the comforting of young Bruce. Anyway, what do you make of this idea? Can you have an interesting Gotham without Batman? Can they make this cool or might it be just a superhero themed police procedural?

I think I'm a part of the first generation of journalists to skip print media entirely, and I've learned a lot these last few years at Forbes. My work has appeared on TVOvermind, IGN, and most importantly, a segment on The Colbert Report at one point.

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7 Comments

  1. It will almost surely just be a superhero-themed police procedural. Which, as someone who’s getting tired of both superheroes and procedurals, does not bode well.

  2. It would be amazing if after a few years, Batman shows up and is the mysterious vigilante/villain that the cops want to take down. Imagine a season long arc with them trying to track and take down a Batman, that the audience never sees more than a glimpse of, before realizing that they are in fact on the same side. We’d have a opportunity to see Batman as the citizens and thugs of Gotham do, as this terrifying crusader taking the law into his own hands.

    They’ll never do that, but it would be fun to watch.

    If a prequel, as most people are thinking, should the show be set in a past decade, like the 70s or 80s?

  3. I think this idea is awful. I love love love batman, but this is gonna be dumb. Especially if a prequel as it will just be cops chasing down thugs and mob guys. That was all that was really around before batman. So it’ll basically just be law and order meets sopranos, riding on the coat tails of batman.

    Either the or they say fuck mythology and have a hound Gordon tracking down joker and riddler and whatnot. In which case it becomes another villain of the week piece of crap.

  5. Well, GCPD and Gotham Central were both great comics, so I’d prefer if they just went that route rather than focusing just on Gordon. Either way, I think there is a lot of potential for this kind of show but it could easily go too corny and end up crap.

  7. It seems like an interesting concept. Are we talking about Gordon in his early 20’s or 30’s?

    How much older is Gordon than Wayne? 30 years?

    Is bruce wayne even born?

    We could see how the Waynes built there empire.

    Early run ins with villians/heroes before they would go on to be what they are in the future.

    I seem to remember something in the comics about the golden age of gotham.

    Some kind of ultra futuristic idealized version of the 1950’s??

    What happened during that time period?

    The how of what made a magnificent city fall off the rails.

    Sounds depressing though.

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