There are already too many villains and ancillary characters included on FOX's "Gotham," in my humble opinion. Now, it seems that another bad guy will be jammed in there for good measure. The Red Hood will be making an appearance on the series sometime soon.
In an interview with Comic Book Resources, showrunner Bruno Heller explains that the Red Hood's inclusion will implement the show's "costume strand." When he was asked if Season 1 would remain costume free, he gave the following lengthy response:
"I'm looking at several years. So we're in no hurry to [do that...there's going to be an episode that involves the Red Hood, which picks up that strand, the costume strand, and sort of gives a kind of philosophical base, if that's not too pretentious a word. Why costumes? What's the power of costumes? What's the power of a mask? All of that groundwork will be laid sort of culturally for that side of the DC Universe before we start rolling into the more spectacular spandex type of deal.
"Because...I can't remember where I read it...the reason that the comic book characters wore costumes is because in the very rough printing that they used to have in newspapers, that's the only way you could make a character pop. 'Oh, that's Batman, that's Superman, that's Dick Tracy.' On TV, you don't need that same color and signature to make people pop. It's the characters that pop. So we're never going to be a full-on costume drama. We're going to be a full-on character drama. Like Batman, there's the super powers, super will, and there's super strength, but only on a human level. Not on a supernatural level. It's very important, again, for the longevity of the show, that we take this step by step."
The Red Hood and his associated gang have been a major element in the Batman mythos since the beginning, and it has been revealed in many older comics as the original incarnation of The Joker, just before his little accident in the chemical vat. There have been many fan theories and speculation floating about the interwebs in regard to when The Joker would crop up in the series, or if he has already, but will the introduction of the Red Hood will provide an easy transition into the Clown Prince of Crime persona?
Heller also excitedly teased the first season finale in the interview, stating: "We'd always planned for the end of the season to be as big and spectacular and as shocking and as frightening and as sensational as it possibly can be. And we're going ahead with that plan."
"Gotham" airs Monday evenings at 8 P.M. on FOX.
