Gotham has spent its four seasons on the air so far introducing some of the biggest and baddest villains of Batman lore, although always with enough twists that even the most diehard DC Comics fans can't guess what's going to happen. The show seemed to introduce a young version of the Joker way back in Season 1 with Jerome Valeska, as played brilliantly by Cameron Monaghan. The actor nailed everything from the creepy grin to the maniacal laugh that we've come to expect of the Joker, and fans have naturally speculated that Jerome really is going to be Gotham's version of the Joker. Now, David Mazouz (who plays the young Bruce Wayne on Gotham) has debunked that theory and indicated that the real Joker is on the way:
He is not the Joker, that's all I'm saying. He is definitely the inspiration for the Joker and the way that the Joker comes into the show is in my opinion one of the most brilliant things Gotham has ever done.
Jerome Valeska is not the Joker, despite the grin and the cackle and the years of speculation that he is truly destined to become the Clown Prince of Crime. Gotham has apparently been playing it straight all along that Jerome is influencing other bad guys in Gotham to embrace their darker sides. David Mazouz debunked the Joker theory during a chat on the Discussing Film podcast, but he also seemed to indicate that we won't be waiting too much longer to discover how the real Joker comes to be. After all, Mazouz didn't refer to when or if the Joker will appear; instead, he commented on the way the characters comes into the show. The Joker may be making his first appearance sooner rather than later.
Interestingly, Cameron Monaghan himself seemed to confirm that the Joker will debut in the not-too-distant future on Gotham. He took to social media to respond to David Mazouz' comments about Jerome and the introduction of the Joker. The post on Twitter has since been taken down, which may been the biggest clue that the Joker really is on the way courtesy of a story involving Bruce and Jerome. Monaghan may have taken it down (or been asked to take it down) if it seemed too spoiler-y to be public at this point. The original tweet (via ComicBook.com) from Monaghan said this:
I can confirm. What we've cooked up and discussed is something not to be missed. It's a twist on familiar themes, both new and old echoes of the mythos. Something entirely new, but we believe true to the spirit of the show as well as the comics. Proud I got to be a part of it.
All signs point toward a new twist on the classic Joker origin story that nevertheless does justice to the comics source material. Jerome won't be the Joker, but he'll evidently be heavily involved in the story that produces the Joker. It should be fun to see if Jerome and the new Joker are able to co-exist. The Joker obviously won't die, and it would be a shame to lose Cameron Monaghan as a villain. Even if he's not the Joker, that laugh of his is scary enough that he should stick around for the long term, if not as a regular.
Only time will tell how the Joker will emerge in the second half of Season 4. Unfortunately, Fox has not yet announced a midseason premiere date for Gotham in 2018. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest in superhero news, and don't forget to take a look at our midseason TV premiere schedule for your viewing options while we wait for more Gotham.
