Fox's "Gotham" has found another villain. Actress Jada Pinkett Smith has signed on to play Fish Mooney in the TV series. In a press release Fox described the character as "A sadistic gangster boss and nightclub owner, Fish Mooney's got the street smarts and almost extra-sensory abilities to read people like an open book. Imposing and hotheaded, she's not one to be crossed," screenrant.com reports.
Mooney will make her debut appearance on the pilot episode and is expected to remain on a series regular. According to the site, Mooney will play the boss of Oswald Cobblepot, who eventually becomes The Penguin. Actor Robin Lord Taylor will play Cobblepot.
The cast also includes Ben McKenzie as Commissioner James Gordon, who becomes Batman's trusted friend; Donal Logue as Gordon's partner, Detective Harvey Bullock; Sean Pertwee as Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred Pennyworth; Zabryna Guevara as Gordon and Bullock's boss, Captain Essen; and Erin Richards as Gordon's fiancé, Barbara Kean.
"Gotham" will be a prequel to Batman's days a crime fighter and will feature younger versions of the beloved characters in the DC Comics. The series will show how each character became the superheroes and villains everyone now knows, Entertainment Weekly reports.
"This is all of the classic Batman characters," Fox chairman Kevin Reilly said during a panel in January. "It follows the arc of how they all became what they were. I've read the script, it's really good. It's going to be this operatic soap that has a slightly larger-than-life quality."
In the TV series, Bruce Wayne will be a 12-year-old boy. It's been reported that the final episode of the series will show Wayne become Batman and wear his cape and cowl for the first time.
"Gotham" is expected to air on Fox beginning Fall 2014.
