While it’s still a little sad that Sons of Anarchy is over (I know, I’m trying to get over it), it’s still great news that a lot of the actors we remember fondly from the FX series are moving over to other projects. Former Sons actor Tommy Flanagan is heading to network TV, where he is set to play new character The Knife on Fox’s Gotham adaptation. He’s the latest person who has been announced in Gotham’s “Rise of the Villains” season.
So far, we’ve seen a ton of big names added to Gotham during Season 2. In fact, we’ve known Flanagan would appear on the show for a little while, ever since the actor tweeted about his upcoming appearance back in October. At the time, we assumed he was heading to Gotham to play a brand new character, but we also had no idea who that might be. Recently Comic Book determined that he would be playing The Knife.
A lot of the villains in Gotham’s universe are pretty well-known, having popped up in various Batman comics, feature films and other media over the years. But some of the characters on the series have been created specifically for Gotham, including last year’s feisty villainess Fish Mooney, who ended up being super polarizing and was (presumably) killed off of the series at the end of Season 1. Like Mooney, The Knife is a new character in this universe. He is described as “dangerous” and “remorseless,” a ruthless and terrifying villain who can be relaxed and charming and simply turn it off the following second to get to the business of killing. Flanagan should be a good fit for that type of gig.
Flanagan has had a lot of roles during his lengthy career, but in the States, the Scottish actor is most known for playing Chibs on Sons of Anarchy, a character who was willing to do what needed to be done to keep the Sons charter thriving and slowly worked his way up the ranks. Still, he was also shown to be less violent than some of the other members and even acted as a father figure to Juice, although he could be violent when needed. It’ll be interesting to see how Flanagan does in a role that seems even darker and over-the-top than the Sons gig.
Gotham hasn’t intrigued as many viewers during its Season 2 run, but the show isn’t bleeding viewers, either, and one thing I think it is really getting right is casting. To create a wacky, gleefully violent series like Gotham, you really need the right people, and actors like James Frain, Cameron Monaghan and the recent addition of Nathan Darrow all seem like the right calls. We’ll let you know who else gets added to “Rise of the Villains.”
In the meantime, Gotham airs on Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET. Here’s what has yet to premiere this fall.
