FOX's hit show Gotham is a tricky thing. The Batman adaptation/prequel has garnered a ton of attention from comic book fans for both bringing exciting new characters to the screen, as well as not giving a crap about keeping things within the DC canon. And while some TV goers have praised Gotham for being a largely original story, many die hard DC fans have been anxious for the introduction of a full fledged Batman, Joker, Harley Quinn, and all of the other favorites. However, one Gotham actor doesn't think Batman is at all necessary. And he's playing the man in question
David Mazouz plays Bruce Wayne on Gotham, and recently opened up to Collider as to why the series doesn't need Batman at all... yet.
Batman can't exist until he's necessary, and he's not necessary yet. The world of Gotham has to get a lot worse, which it will. That's the show. It really is the story of how a city goes from being okay to just being an absolute mess, and there needs to be a Batman to save it.
Touche, Bruce Wayne. I totally see David Mazouz's point regarding Batman's eventual conclusion in Gotham, although I have to wonder if his statements make much sense given Season 3's overall theme.
Obviously Batman was wholly not needed throughout most of Gotham's first two seasons. The city was full of organized crime issues and had the spare rogue every now and then, but ultimately Jim Gordon, Harvey Bullock, and the GCPD proved themselves capable enough to save the day. Batman's typical Gotham City is chock full of metahumans and rogues who are capable of really messing things up and causing catastrophes. Batman and his protegees are necessary to keep the peace, and to take care of foes who normal police officers are simply ill-equipped to take on. So yeah, he wasn't really needed during the first two seasons, and we could instead focus on the journey of a young Bruce Wayne.
But then there's Season 3. The second season ended with a freshly resurrected and super powered Fish Mooney breaking out of Indian Hill, and bringing a gaggle of dangerous monsters and former villains with her (most likely including everyone's favorite Joker-ish character Jerome). And with these metahumans and monsters now roaming Gotham City, having a certain vigilante who dresses in black would really help the situation. How exactly is the GCPD supposed to combat these monsters, especially with Jim Gordon busy investigating the Court of Owls with Bruce?
We'll just have to wait and see how the various threats to Gotham City are somehow battled during season 3. The first episode premiered last night on FOX and teased a season of pure chaos. Season 3's first half has been appropriately titled Gotham: Mad City.
