It has not been a week since I reported on the unveiling of the official details for the upcoming television series ‘Gotham’, and already we have some more exciting news from the city of the Dark Knight! Photos have emerged from the set, which allow us to get an exciting glimpse into how certain characters will be portrayed in this series. First up, a look at Ben McKenzie’s Gordon in action.
Seems to indicate that he will most likely be more physically active than Gary Oldman’s incarnation…
The next picture is another of Ben McKenzie, but with an added bonus – we get to see Donal Logue in costume as Harvey Bullock.
Seems like Harvey Bullock will serve as the ‘grizzly mentor’ to the rookie…
Alright, now here we have an interesting figure – Oswald Cobblepot, played by Robin Taylor. Seems that unlike many incarnations, this Cobblepot isn’t short and stout, like most incarnations…additionally, take note of the front-page story on the newspaper.
Well, looks like my theory has been blown clear out of the water…
Joe Chill…slain?
Wow. Well, there goes my theory of a season finale where Gordon tracks Chill across Gotham. It also gives the series a new light – Bruce befriends the man who avenged his parents.
How does Gordon react to killing the murderer? Does this influence Bruce to never kill? Will Cobblepot get his trademark monocle? Will Gordon ever grow a mustache, and be forced to get glasses later on in the series?
“Yo Mama” jokes, the staple of online multiplayer immaturity
I remember seeing a meme circulated from honestslogans.com once that added new slogans to well known brands. Many were amusing but the one that made me really laugh was the one for Xbox live as shown above.
It’s one of those things that’s funny because it’s true. Well, it’s intent is true as I’m sure Xbox don’t actually know what your Mum has been up to. Xbox Live has long held the reputation of being filled with jerks and angry abusive kids who’ll tear into some innocent Halo player either for a lack of skill and experience or simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Being the victim of abuse and swathes of sexually explicit and often violently threatening remarks has almost become an occupational hazard for some players and driven them away from the online gaming community. But all that may be about to change, or at least on Xbox anyway.
Following the E3 Conference in 2013, Microsoft’s Marc Whitten revealed in a letter published on the Xbox website that they were working on a reputation system designed to improve matchmaking and penalise players who create negative experiences for others. Moving away from the current 5 star reputation score to a more intricate and dynamic algorithm.
“Your new Xbox Live Reputation plays a prominent and valuable role rewarding healthy participation while reducing troublemakers and cheaters. A unified system across Xbox Live and all of your games allows for you to have much more control over who you play with while giving you new and exciting ways to get even move involved in your community.”
Reputation systems are difficult animals to control as they are entirely dependant on players actually reporting other players and not just changing sessions to avoid the offending arse hat.
According to Polygon.com, Frank Savage, partner and development lead at Microsoft said that this new system would reward players for good behaviour by implementing the carrot that you’d see your reputation “soaring because you’re this amazing player everyone wants to be with”.
While this new system is still in the brainstorming stages, anything that can improve the online gaming experience has to be a good thing so we’ll watch out for developments on this with interest.
What I’d really like to see is a serious skill matching system though, particularly in games like Call of Duty and Halo where you’re still pitted against people who you don’t stand a chance against. But for now, the focus seems to be on making sure that when at least you’re being tea-bagged by a nicer brand of player and that seems a good enough place to start.
Fans of The Incredibles rejoice, as the sequel that everyone has been waiting for is officially in the works.
Following the middling reviews and performance of sequels Cars 2 and Monsters University, Pixar President, Ed Catmul, stated earlier this year that the iconic and critically acclaimed animation studio would be scaling back on sequels and focusing on more original films, they will however be producing a long awaited sequel to the 2004 hit film about the superhero family.
A follow up to the critical and financial hit has long been the subject of fan speculation with director and writer Brad Bird speaking about it back in 2007 stating,
“Pixar does not look at sequels as a financial plan. We feel we have a relationship with the audience and that they believe in each movie we put out. We believe completely in every movie we put out. If I can come up with a story that is as good or better than that first film, then I’d love to return to that world, but it would have to be story first.”
Comics fans who like to take in a bit of culture too will be pleased to know that The British Library, as in The British Library Giles refers to in Buffy, has a new upcoming exhibit – Comics Unmasked – Art and Anarchy in the UK.
“Comics Unmasked is the UK’s largest ever exhibition of mainstream and underground comics, showcasing works that uncompromisingly address politics, gender, violence, sexuality and altered states. It explores the full anarchic range of the medium with works that challenge categorisation, preconceptions and the status quo, alongside original scripts, preparatory sketches and final artwork that demystify the creative process.”
The exhibit which runs from 2 May to 19 August 2014 will trace British comics through the ages, including classic 70’s titles like 2000AD, Action and Misty and dating back to 19th Century illustrated reports of Jack The Ripper. It will also feature works from iconic names including Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore and Grant Morrison.
Jamie Hewlett, designer and co-creator of Tank Girl created the exhibition poster and had this to say on his involvement,
‘There is no national institution better than the British Library to showcase such an extensive collection of British comic art. I’m thrilled to be part of this exhibition, and to celebrate the history of British comics.’
Hewlett will also be joined by original Tank Girl writer Alan Martin for a special presentation on Friday 27 June, 18.30-20.00 called Tank Girl and the Aftermath.
When Disney bought the Star Wars franchise from George Lucas back in October of 2012, fans of the saga were promised a succession of new Star Wars movies (namely episode VII, VIII & IX) starting with episode VII in 2015 and since then have been eager to find any chunks of information regarding the narrative and/or production of the movie.
Amongst other bites of information mainly coming through the rumour mill Disney has officially announced that Star Wars Episode VII will be set 30 years after the events in Return Of The Jedi. This said, fans can expect to see key characters making a return in the form of older versions and more than likely ushering in a new band of core characters as a crossover to give the franchise a new lease of life.
The announcement came through a shareholders meeting at Disney where Disney boss Bob Iger revealed that Star Wars: Episode VII would feature “some very familiar faces with a trio of new leads”, Iger also noted that J.J’s Star Wars: Episode VII is to be set 30 years after Return Of The Jedi and will begin shooting this May.
All this is exciting news and it shouldn’t be long until we starting hearing more news and confirmed facts about the plot, characters and casting of the film. What are your thoughts on this extension of the franchise? do you have reservations about J.J. Abrams’ take on Star Wars? worry about new characters taking over the story? or do you have positive thoughts about the future of the franchise, leave your comment below to have your say.
All Hail the Helix Fossil – whilst it may seem to some that this phrase is gibberish being typed out by someone who should go seek help, there are some who see this as the latest form of prayer to a higher god.
Whilst it may seem like a generation ago for some, Twitch Plays Pokémon launched on 12 February 2014 with Pokémon Red. To those blissfully unaware of this phenomenon, an Australian programmer altered the code of an existing system to create a script which captures specific messages (directional commands, ‘a’, ‘b’, ‘select’ and ‘start’).
Pokémon Red was chosen due to its nostalgia value to the author, as well as its ‘forgiving’ turn-based structure and lack of reaction/time sensitive gameplay. Additionally, during the stream there were some changes made to the way in which the chat influenced the gameplay, mainly the introduction of the ‘democracy’ system due to problems encountered on Day 5. After it was implemented, the chat-based system had two ways of playing the game – ‘anarchy’, where the chat would completely control the character, and ‘democracy’, where after every ten seconds the order with the most votes would be implemented.
And you wondered why we needed ‘Democracy’…
In this game, only a few things were certain
– If you had an item that could be thrown, odds were it was going to get tossed sometime in the game. Notable exceptions to this were the Helix Fossil and the SS Anne Ticket, which were instead regularly ‘consulted’ in and outside of battle
– The pause button was regularly pressed, resulting in the Pokédex being randomly consulted or checking we still had the same amount of badges as last time. Apparently, Red suffered from short-term memory loss, and had to find out what a Bulbasaur sounded like on a regular basis…
– If we were heading to the PC, there was a good chance that at least one Pokémonwould be released into the wild. This resulted in memorable events such as the dual release Charmeleon ‘Abby’ and Rattata ‘Jay Leno’, and not to mention ‘Bloody Sunday’ (where around a dozen Pokémon were released in a single day…)
This is probably the most accurate gif out there to show what Twitch Plays Pokemon involves…
At its peak, the stream had 121,000 people typing in commands, commanding Red to push onward whilst consulting the Helix at odd intervals. Additionally, some of these people are interested in hindering rather than progressing. The fact we managed to get anywhere at all is astounding. Along the way there may have been some bumps in the road – releasing our starter Pokémonand our inability to cut a single tree were just some of the many challenges we encountered – and yet we still managed to defeat the most powerful trainers in the game.
What interests me most of all though is not the fact that we did it, but is in fact the stories we made along the way. TPP was a game we were all a part of, and now it has its own mythology. I mean, over the course of a week the Helix Fossil, a single part of this online phenomenon, was hailed as the messiah. Some fans have even gone to extreme lengths to show their commitment to the mythos we all created, creating terrific fanart and fan theories, and even online bibles dedicated to the Helix.
This is one of the things I truly love about TPP – the mythos we have created. We have grown attached to our Pokémon and given them nicknames and backstory, and even mourn them when we accidentally release them into the wild. We decided that the Flareon was the false messiah, sent by the rejected Dome Fossil to lead us astray. We decided to establish out Pidgeot as Bird Jesus, sent by Helix to guide us. We saw to it that we tamed Gods and Kings to reach the journey’s end.
But the TPP Train doesn’t stop here – after Pokémon Red was completed, the task of becoming Pokémon Master was passed from Red onto ‘AJDNNW’, or ‘A.J’ for short, on 2 March 2014 as the stream changed to Pokémon Crystal. In over a week, they have secured all 8 Gym Badges, and already have survived great ordeals (rogue TPP viewers assembling to ‘Release the Gator’, only to be eventually fought off by the masses). The speed of this success can probably be associated with the decline in popularity, as the stream now averages at around 10,000 people per day, which is considerably less than the original. This decline in popularity has led to easier control over the game, allowing for more ground to be covered. However, the mythos has not suffered in the slightest, as ‘A.J.’ fights to become Pokémon master alongside ‘Lazorgator’ (a Feraligatr nicknamed as such because of his fondness for Leer as a baby Totodile), ‘Brian’ (another Pidgeot…but he’s not the Messiah, he’s a very naughty bird). Already, the trainer has suffered losses (the loss of ‘Admiral Senret’ and ‘Prince Omlette’ the Togepi…not to mention the use of a Masterball to catch a Goldeen of all Pokémon), and it seems that the lack of idols and religious figures in this generation has led to a new ideology. This generation, we don’t need a Helix Fossil to consult every five minutes. We have no need for Messiahs and Archangels.
No Gods. No Kings. Only ‘Mon.
No Gods. No Kings. Only ‘Mon.
One of the most important parts of this game though has to be the fact that you get to actually fight Red on Mt. Silver…and the programmer has made it so that his team contains all the Pokémon Twitch Users used to defeat the Elite Four. That’s right, A.J. have to fulfill the prophecy and will take on Gods and Kings to finally become a Pokémon Master.
I’ve enjoyed TPP, and am glad the series will be continuing to Pokémon Emerald. but it is unlikely that any other future ‘Twitch Plays’ series will match the hype that surrounded the original. Already, there are other ‘Twitch Plays’ channels out there – ranging from Tetris to other Pokemon games – but none of them have matched the popularity of the first TP Channel. History may not remember this moment, and it may not be noted in history books…but it sure was a memorable moment for all those involved.
So the whole card may not yet be announced, but the main event matches are all there. This year’s Wrestlemania looks set to be possibly the best of all time. Despite having been disgruntled for many months, most wrestling fans are now eagerly anticipating the 30th anniversary of the Showcase of the Immortals, and there is one reason for that: Daniel Bryan. The man has dominated opinion for more than a year now, and his widespread support has slowly started to take over the company. This culminated in a fantastic segment on last week’s Raw, in which he occupied the ring with a bunch of “fans” – probably plants or developmental wrestlers mostly. It’s now confirmed that Bryan will get his big match against Triple H, and if he manages to beat him, he will even go into the main event for the World Title.
It’s not just the role of Daniel Bryan that makes this year’s Mania completely juicy. There are a host of great matches already booked and a lot of big stars involved in heated feuds. My only concern at the moment is that the “Andre The Giant Memorial” 30-Man Over-The-Top-Rope Battle Royal will swallow up too many members of the roster. I think it’s an excellent chance to give the most hardened jobbers a chance to get a payday, but it shouldn’t bring down the likes of The Shield and The Real Americans. There is so far no evidence to suggest that it will, but it could. I’d like to see a Fatal-4-Way for the Tag Team Titles. That would be something meaningful for the great teams that have emerged over the past year. The battle royal already includes Intercontinental Champion Big E and I would really hate to see Dean Ambrose and The Usos follow suit. The idea is great and it’s a nice touch, but they should fill it with legends, NXT guys and the lower mid card guys from Raw and Smackdown. The Champions and the main eventers should be elevated. That’s best for business.
Triple H v Daniel Bryan should be a great match. I expect these two to go on first, for energy conservation purposes if nothing else. Now that Hunter has announced that he also stands a chance of now being in the World Title main event, it’s been guaranteed that one of these guys will be wrestling two matches on the biggest show of the year. We all expect that Bryan will be the man to do that, and any other outcome to this would be a travesty, and treated as such by the fans in the arena I’m sure. We all know that man can put on two 5 star matches in one night, so I don’t expect anyone to be phoning it in. With all the heat and all the hype that has been building since last year’s Summerslam, this clash is eagerly awaited and won’t disappoint. That’s my prediction anyway.
John Cena v Bray Wyatt is very interesting. I stopped myself the other day and really digested how far The Wyatt Family have come. I digged them so much during their NXT run and I always hoped they would get called to the main roster. I never imagined for a second that they would reach the heights that they have, especially after a fairly lacklustre start. The feud with Kane was cool and the whole gimmick was getting over just as I had expected. The problem was that nobody made a sound when the big guy got in the ring. That seems to be changing. The group has a lot of momentum and it’s leader is red hot. The whole storyline makes sense and it’s something different. It’s refreshing to see John Cena in more of a secondary match for once, and I actually expect him to put on a very good match. With John by no means a General and Bray still green, it could potentially be a disaster. However, I remain very optimistic about this.
Undertaker v Brock Lesnar will probably be the match of the night. It might just be my bias towards The Deadman but I can’t see even a triple threat involving Daniel Bryan being able to top this one. It’s that time of year when the most enigmatic superstar in the history of the business makes his grand entrance and puts on a clinic in the ring. He may be getting up there, but he continues to prove his worth on the biggest stage. As for Brock Lesnar, I have been nothing but impressed with him since his return. He always puts on a good match and with Paul Heyman at his side, he is one of the most entertaining guys on the roster. I thoroughly expect Taker to win and for the streak to never end. I’m sure that’s what everybody wants. Nonetheless, this year’s challenger is one of real credibility and one with which The Phenom shares a bloody history. It should be a cracking contest!
Randy Orton(c) v Batista v ??? (for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship) could go either way. On paper, I’d say it should be the true main event and final match of the night. However, the success of that stance will depend on the result of the match. If Bryan goes over and wins the title, the fans will go crazy and the show will end on an historic high. Should it go in another direction, the whole memory of the show will be soured and WWE could end it’s biggest night of the year with a large-scale revolt. Of course, there is the possibility that Triple H will end up in the match, but I wouldn’t even put a pound on that. If he is, the booing will arrive long before he even enters the ring. That kind of negative reaction is not the way to celebrate 30 years of Wrestlemania. To allow that to happen would be stubborn. I predict that Bryan will be the one to join, he will be the one to win, and he will be the one to steal the show. This has the potential to be one of the best main events of all time, so long as Bryan is a part of it. Call me a Daniel Bryan fan.
On the whole, the Wrestlemania card is very exciting. Two Daniel Bryan matches, a huge battle royal, Hulk Hogan! What more is there to want? I just hope to see a couple more Title matches added in the coming weeks. The next few weeks of WWE television should be very interesting.
“This is me at my most… masochistic.” The late great David Carradine‘s line from Kill Bill has never been more relevant to me than while I’ve been playing From Software‘s Dark Souls II. The game could’ve easily gone under the guise “Death Wish”, or “1000 Ways To Die, Medieval Edition”… but I’ll get to that in a minute.
Have you ever played a game that was so frustrating, that it brought out the stubborn side of you and effectively forced you to continue playing? If you have, then you might have a similar feeling when you play Dark Souls II. This game is most definitely the most punishing title I’ve ever played… and although I’d describe myself as a fairly casual gamer, I’ve had my time playing a plethora of MMOs like World of Warcraft, RF Online, Guild Wars and the like. I’ve played the in-depth titles looking at what gear to wear, what instances to run, how to tackle a particular boss and so on. But none of this even remotely prepared me for playing this game.
As a bit of background, I didn’t play Demon Souls or Dark Souls (the 2011 game was heralded as one of the hardest games of recent years). Because of this I’ve come into it’s successor completely green, and not knowing what the hell I’m doing. This initially really didn’t work in my favour. I ended up actually hating the game, almost not wanting to continue… but I slogged on, and took one for the team. Thankfully I did, as when you find your feet, it becomes a really rewarding game.
If. like me, you didn’t play Dark Souls… fear not. Although Dark Souls II takes place in the same universe, there’s no directly-continuing plot points. Your character is a cursed undead, roaming the world of Drangelic in the hopes of finding a cure for your affliction. I won’t divulge any further details than that… I’m not about spoilers, so feel free to read on without having anything ruined for you.
The lighting with a torch looks great, plus some enemies cower from the light
Graphically, Dark Souls II isn’t as impressive as I was initially expecting – don’t expect it to stand up against titles like Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag… but when you take into account the size of the world, along with the excellent dynamic lighting effects it’s something you can overlook. After all, DS2 lasts a hell of a lot longer than Black Flag does (60+ hours, depending on how much you want to explore). There has been a dip in graphical detail since the early build screenshots, however the trade-off comes with the smooth as silk 30fps with no stuttering or juddering.
Some of the expansive vistas you get to see are quite beautiful, and it’s good to stop and take these in from time-to-time. Drangelic is a massive place with a seemingly endless area to explore. There’s a wide variety of area types, from misty marshes, to crumbling ruins, tombs, dungeons and so much more. However if I’m going to nitpick, the opening tutorial area is a little dark and bland, with some uninteresting ground and wall textures used. Plus there’s a little bit of popup here and there, but this doesn’t happen often enough to actually annoy me.
The sound and music in the game is excellent – voice acting is all pretty well done, and none of it seemed particularly cheesy or out of place. The music is quite rousing, and helps to inspire suspense and tension well. It also helps to make the more awe-inspiring scenes that much more engaging.
One thing I didn’t get on with much was the control system… it takes it’s queues from Dark Souls, but as I didn’t play it, some aspects I really didn’t get along with. For instance – if you want to run, you hold B, and if you want to jump, you click the left stick. This makes jumping gaps (among other things) particularly annoying.
You will die. A LOT.
The gameplay is outstanding, and series purists will be happy to know (as I’ve already mentioned) that Dark Souls II has kept the difficulty level as high as ever. In fact, From Software have ramped it up a notch or two by making death that much more excruciating. What am I talking about? Well… when you die, your max HP takes a hit too – this is something that can only be remedied by using a Human Effigy, and these aren’t exactly lying about the place in droves. Some think this is probably a step too far (me being one of them), but this only helps to add to the challenge of the game… which is half the point.
Combat builds on the experience in Dark Souls, with the emphasis placed on tactics and timing. Just standing there trying to batter the shit out of your enemy won’t serve you well (even less so if there’s more than one), but learning the way an enemy attacks, when to dodge and finding it’s weak spots are paramount. This is particularly important with boss battles, as often making one wrong move means restarting, and this will happen again… and again… and again.
When it comes to missions/quests, you’re not given any direction. It’s like you’re completely left to your own devices, allowed to roam where you want and interact with as much (or as little) as you like – much like when you build your character. When you’re trying to traverse a particular problem, a boss that you can’t take on blocking your route for example, you will have several other options that will lead you to the same goal. It’s facets like this that I love about the game, and reminds me of titles like Deus Ex with it’s multiple methods of dealing with a problem.
Bonfires will be your best friend. Recoup health, fast travel, upgrades are all accessed from them.
There is a fast travel system incorporated too, centering around bonfires. This allows you to transport yourself anywhere you’ve previously been within the world, as long as you’ve lit a bonfire there. This is incredibly convenient, save for if you need to teleport out to the hub area to do stat upgrades where it just becomes arduous and time consuming.
The lack of direction is also prevalent during the character customisation too, which I’m told by a Dark Souls-obsessed buddy of mine is something that was present in the previous game. When you get to name yourself, you’re also asked to choose an archetype. These range from the bog-standard warrior, to an axe-wielding mercenary, and twin-bladed swordsman, a magic-using mage and more. You can also choose a blank slate should you wish, much like Dark Souls. The amount of options when you’re choosing your character’s traits almost gets close to some MMORPGs, with a load of visual options to change the way he/she looks.
Because everything is left to the gamer, it makes your decisions that much more significant. It also means that one gamer’s experience is potentially completely different to another’s… which falls in line with titles like Skyrim too. This is definitely not a bad thing. I’m not sure this adds to the game’s replay value, what with it being a gargantuan 60+ hours of gameplay anyway, but it could keep the hardcore sado-masochists coming back for more I imagine.
Stuck on a boss? See if you can rope in a friend to help
In terms of multiplayer gameplay, the game continues in the same vein as it’s predecessor – you can choose to be a nice guy and help other players, or you can be a bit of a dick and grief them instead. Covenants help to expand the multiplayer aspect of the game, with membership to different Covenants offering different perks and choices – these range from laying traps to placing enemies to help combat intruders. Though if I’m completely honest, I didn’t tinker with this side of the game very much.
All-in-all I’ve been impressed with From Software’s efforts in Dark Souls II. They’ve built a robust, deep and extremely challenging game that will keep you coming back for more. The difficulty is often bordering on the ridiculous, but when you overcome those problematic parts, it’s incredibly rewarding. My other gripe about the control system is a moot point if you’re a prior player of the franchise, and I could find little to complain about in general. If you’re looking for value for money, and an epic sense of accomplishment (or alternatively if you’re feeling like you need to be punished), then Dark Souls II is well worth investing in.
Cake, and grief counseling, will be available at the conclusion of the test. – GLaDOS
Remember that crazy computer and all her tests? Remember getting stumped by that one puzzle, then laughing your head off as the toilet cried ‘Thank You for Your Business!”? How about finding out the cake was a lie? Well, something wonderful has happened in the world of Portal – unfortunately cake may or may not be involved…
Crytozoic (publishers of the DC Comics Deck builder and Assassin’s Creed Arena) have released details of an article where a partnership between Valve and Cryto will hopefully lead to the release of the Portal board game, later this autumn:
“Portal: Uncooperative Cake Acquisition Game” is the non-final title for Valve and Cryptozoic’s board game, a strategy game in which two to four players guide expendable Aperture Laboratories test subjects around a tiled board in an effort to “test in the most desirable test chambers,” according to Barnett. It’s a competitive experience: Once a player takes the lead, they win by eliminating their opponents’ test subjects — or their own. At times it can be a cooperative game, but only when people are teaming up to prevent another person from winning.
A snapshot of the prototype designed at Valve HQ.
“From the very first prototype, the core mechanic struck us as unique and compelling. As it evolved, it survived our rigorous process of external playtesting and iteration,” said Barnett. He explained that while Valve has worked on other board game ideas, “this is the first that we’re sure meets the quality bar that customers expect from Valve.” According to Barnett, Valve worked on the Portal board game prototype for a year before approaching Cryptozoic in early 2013, hoping to enlist the tabletop publisher to lend its expertise and “add a final layer of polish.”
A link to the full article by Samit Sarkar can be found at Polygon.com. Some pretty exciting stuff, and I can’t wait to see how they handle the portal gun mechanic!
Thanks to the creation of the new website for Gotham, we finally have a logo to associate with the series, which is set to explore the city of the Dark Knight prior to his arrival. The only other piece of information we are provided with is a very long description of the show, name-dropping not only James Gordon (who appears to be central to the series, as it is set to follow the rookie as he rises through the ranks to police commissioner) and his partner Harvey Bullock, but also a 12 year old, newly-orphaned Bruce Wayne, Alfred, and several big-name super-villains prior to their transformation.
It seems that this will be the origin story for everyone, as we glimpse the boy before he takes the cowl, the police officer before he rises through the ranks, and those destined for crime before they adopt their villain personas…
“Everyone knows the name Commissioner Gordon. He is one of the crime world’s greatest foes, a man whose reputation is synonymous with law and order. But what is known of Gordon’s story and his rise from rookie detective to Police Commissioner? What did it take to navigate the multiple layers of corruption that secretly ruled Gotham City, the spawning ground of the world’s most iconic villains? And what circumstances created them – the larger-than-life personas who would become Catwoman, The Penguin, The Riddler, Two-Face and The Joker?
GOTHAM is an origin story of the great DC Comics super villains and vigilantes, revealing an entirely new chapter that has never been told. From executive producer/writer Bruno Heller (“The Mentalist,” “Rome”), GOTHAM follows one cop’s rise through a dangerously corrupt city teetering on the edge of evil and chronicles the birth of one of the most popular super heroes of our time.
Growing up in Gotham City’s surrounding suburbs, JAMES GORDON (Ben McKenzie, “Southland,” “The O.C.”) romanticized the city as a glamorous and exciting metropolis where his late father once served as a successful district attorney. Now, two weeks into his new job as a Gotham City detective and engaged to his beloved fiancée, BARBARA KEAN (Erin Richards, “Open Grave,” “Breaking In”), Gordon is living his dream – even as he hopes to restore the city back to the pure version he remembers it was as a kid.
Brave, honest and ready to prove himself, the newly-minted detective is partnered with the brash, but shrewd police legend HARVEY BULLOCK (Donal Logue, “Sons of Anarchy,” “Terriers,” “Vikings,” “Copper”), as the two stumble upon the city’s highest-profile case ever: the murder of local billionaires Thomas and Martha Wayne. At the scene of the crime, Gordon meets the sole survivor: the Waynes’ hauntingly intense 12-year-old son, BRUCE (David Mazouz, “Touch”), toward whom the young detective feels an inexplicable kinship. Moved by the boy’s profound loss, Gordon vows to catch the killer.
As he navigates the often-underhanded politics of Gotham’s criminal justice system, Gordon will confront imposing gang boss FISH MOONEY (Jada Pinkett Smith, “The Matrix” films, “HawthoRNe,” “Collateral”), and many of the characters who will become some of fiction’s most renowned, enduring villains, including a teenaged SELINA KYLE/the future CATWOMAN (acting newcomer Camren Bicondova) and OSWALD COBBLEPOT/THE PENGUIN (Robin Lord Taylor, “The Walking Dead,” “Another Earth”).
Although the crime drama will follow Gordon’s turbulent and singular rise through the Gotham City police department, led by Police Captain SARAH ESSEN (Zabryna Guevara, “Burn Notice”), it also will focus on the unlikely friendship Gordon forms with the young heir to the Wayne fortune, who is being raised by his unflappable butler, ALFRED (Sean Pertwee, “Camelot,” “Elementary”). It is a friendship that will last them all of their lives, playing a crucial role in helping the young boy eventually become the crusader he’s destined to be.
GOTHAM is based upon characters published by DC Comics and is produced by Warner Bros. Television. Executive producer Bruno Heller (“The Mentalist”) wrote the pilot, which will be directed and executive-produced by Emmy Award nominee Danny Cannon (the “CSI” series, “Nikita”).”
Yikes, seems like a lot, but it manages to highlight some key facts about the series. As it seems that Gordon will be pursuing Joe Chill, the man who murdered Bruce’s parents. Due to it’s importance to Gordon, this seems to be one of the central features of the series – Gordon tracking down Joe Chill to bring him to justice. Do we have our first season being teased, or would it be too soon to bring this key character to Gordon and Bruce’s relationship?
What is interesting is that they name drop iconic Batman villain Joker…despite canon having our pale-faced, grinning fiend making his appearance much later on in Bruce’s life. Joker’s backstory is not very clear – in the iconic The Killing Joke, it alludes to a possible backstory for the character, but he claims that he likes to keep his past as multiple choice…
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