This show looks pretty cool, although I’m not so thrilled that the Wayne murder is the trigger point for Jim Gordon’s crusade against the criminal underbelly of Gotham. This is not a Bruce Wayne story, this is Jim Gordon’s story and I feel that making the Wayne murder the focal point could undermine Jim Gordon’s character and motivations. That being said this show looks really good, as long as they keep the teen romantic element that WB/DC shows like Smallville and Arrow have out of it and makes it into a true detective show (no relations to HBO hit True Detective).
The creators of this show have an amazing opportunity to
introduce new characters that don’t necessarily relate to Batman mythos directly,
but contribute to future events. I don’t want to see young Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, or Catwoman, give me new stories. This idea of that these characters were per-destined to be evil is boring; there should be some mystery surrounding the characters to give the audience a chance to form their own opinion on what certain character's motivations are. You have an amazing opportunity to create pre Batman
Gotham with all new villains. Make a compelling show that can stand on its own
feet without relying on Batman lore too much. Every now and then it’s ok to integrate
old characters like The Penguin or Black Mask into the show to keep it attached
to Batman mythos, but I for one want to see a Jim Gordon story that doesn’t
revolve around Bruce Wayne.
I think delving too much into to the Wayne murder can hurt
the Batman's origin. We see this happening many times where prequels try to
explain the events but they end up doing more damage to the mythos and alienate
the fan base. Star Wars prequels are
notorious for ruining the Star Wars universe, it’s overwhelmingly hated by the
fans of the original trilogy. I for one found “Midi-chlorians” as the source of The Force really annoying. The Force was this mysterious source of power that
was mastered by the Jedi and the Sith to give them powers beyond a normal
person. Trying to explain it Midi-chlorians count was stupid and really downplayed
the importance of The Force.
So here’s hoping that Gotham is a gritty engaging detective
show about future commissioner Jim Gordon struggling to bring down the strong criminal
underbelly of Gotham, and not hacked attempted to cash in on Batman’s name and
success. I truly see great potential in this show, so let’s see what can expect
from Gotham the Jim Gordon story.
