Some shows on TV struggle to retain viewers’ interests in a core group of characters, while Gotham’s strategy has been to throw just about every character from the Batman mythos at audiences. And with Season 2 being touted as the “Rise of the Villains,” it should probably come as no surprise that even more members of the Dark Knight’s rogues gallery will make their way to the small screen, and it sounds like we’ll be seeing Hugo Strange and Calendar Man making life a living hell for Gotham residents and/or Arkham Asylum inmates. Plus, we might even get another superhero at some point in the form of Azrael.
When you take into account just how many villains are already populating Gotham City, adding more could be overload. But most of the villains’ histories are incredibly interesting, so it’s hard to complain, especially if Gotham adds details that weren’t already established. Executive producer and director Danny Cannon recently teased that the show is going to start early with some of these guys.
Hugo Strange is a very interesting character who has never had an origin story, as is the Calendar Man. Azrael is a character we are starting very, very, very way back. And Tigress also.
You get an origin story! And you get an origin story! And you! And you! We’re at the point where GCPD should be able to get rid of all of these criminals before Bruce Wayne even becomes Batman, but these guys are supervillains for a reason, I guess. Let’s look at these characters one by one.
First appearing in 1940 as a super-early villain, Professor Hugo Strange is a whacked out chemistry genius who often uses a particular serum (and other psychological “treatments”) to get people to obey him and follow his command. Showrunner and creator Bruno Heller shared with IGN at Comic Con that Strange will be introduced to get into the history of Arkham Asylum. That should get complicated really quickly.
It doesn’t take a lot to figure out what Calendar Man’s schtick is. His criminal motives are tied to holidays and other important days, and he’ll often dress up for the part. Since he’s not exactly the most hardcore or sadistic of the villains in Batman’s history, it’s kind of surprising that he’ll be showing up on Gotham so early, and I’m hoping they give him a story arc that adds some oddball humor to the sometimes stuffy series.
It’s strange that Cannon told Blastr that they were starting so early with Azrael’s story, as this is a character whose changing identities go back hundreds of years through the Sacred Order of St. Dumas. But I’m guessing he’ll be introduced for the modern motive of offering up stand-in heroes for Gotham City to pit against the many villains, even if Batman isn’t around yet. Maybe we’ll see an Order group form, leading up to an actual Azrael getting named down the road.
Beyond the ones listed above, we’re expecting Season 2 to feature Tigress and her brother, Mr. Freeze, The Riddler, The Joker, Mad Hatter, Clayface, and of course The Penguin. We’ll also be getting more Butch and a possible villainous turn from Barbara. And hey, there’s Michael Chiklis, too!
Gotham Season 2 will premiere on Monday, September 21, at 8:00 p.m. ET
