DC fans won’t be overwhelmed with villain back stories in the first season of “Gotham.”
In an interview with Variety (via ComicBook.com), Gotham showrunner Bruno Heller explained the pilot would be full of future villain appearances, including Poison Ivy and The Riddler. However, the characters featured in the pilot will be important throughout the show.
"You kind of have to frontload the pilot with the best you've got," Heller told Variety. "As the show rolls on, we'll be far more careful with how we roll out the villains and in what way... These are the origin stories of these guys. The Penguin comes fully fledged since you have to show your best cards up front, but as we go on, a slower roll out."
Heller added fans shouldn’t be concerned about FOX creating new back stories for the villains. The showrunner assured the series will stay true to their characters will stay true to the DC Comics.
"It's not a whole new mythology," Heller said. "When so many stories [in the comics] are created, none of them can be constant with each other. We won't break the canonical iron truths of the Batman mythology, but issues of chronology, we will play with."
Villains expected to appear in the series also include Penguin and Catwoman, but the Joker’s appearance will be handled with care. Bleeding Cool reports there will be multiple “jokers” introduced throughout the series, but only one man is the future nemesis of Batman.
"Basically, every episode in the first season will introduce a character that might be a future Joker, each emphasizing aspects of the character's iconography, a card sharp, a flower seller, a clown, or just a guy with a very big grin," according to Bleeding Cool. "All relatively unknown actors. All potentially a Joker. But only one of them being the actual Clown Prince Of Crime."
“Gotham” will premiere on FOX on Sept. 22.
