We’re only a few episodes into Season 1 of Fox’s “Gotham” but so many iconic comic book villains have already popped out in the series, including Cat Woman, The Riddler, Poison Ivy, The Penguin, Two-Face, Scare Crow, Victor Zsasz, and the most recent one, the Red Hood gang.
But other than the Red Hood gang and the Penguin, the iconic villains introduced so far have not stepped into the darkness yet. After all, this is just the 1st season and more stories will be developed through future episodes. However, the moment we’ve been waiting for is “sort of” here.
Rumour has it that The Joker, Batman’s biggest arch enemy is going to be appear in the series soon.
In a new preview video of episode 16, a man is seen being questioned by Detective Jim Gordon (played by Ben McKenzie) before he let out his disturbingly maniacal laugh. The man is called Jerome and he is being portrayed by “Shameless” star Cameron Monaghan. The actor is reportedly going to play a teenaged version of The Joker after the show teased the fans with a tagline, “Gotham’s next villain is no joke.”
Titled “The Blind Fortune Teller”, the brief description of the episode is as follows:
Gordon takes Dr. Leslie Thompkins (guest star Morena Baccarin) to the circus, but the day turns quickly when the circus comes under attack. Then, Falcone enlists Butch Gilzean to help Penguin with the night club, while Fish Mooney is otherwise occupied. Also, Bruce Wayne schedules a meeting with the Wayne Enterprises board.
Showrunner Bruno Heller previously told the reporters that he would play with fans’ expectations of who would turn into The Joker by teasing his origins in a subtle way. Thus, it’s not entirely impossible for them to introduce the character through the 17th episode, which introduces a group of identically dressed bank robbers, the Red Hood gang.
In the current DC Comics continuity, the Red Hood gang is led by a man who later becomes The Joker. The gang will be introduced on the 17th episode of the same name but no plot details have been revealed yet.
Though Monaghan’s mysterious character remains unknown, many speculated he is indeed going to be the Clown Prince of Crime after he teased the fans with the following tweet:
You really should watch #Gotham next week. I'm not clowning around.
— Cameron Monaghan (@CameronMonaghan) February 10, 2015
Now, we don’t know for sure if he is just fooling around because he could be any random character with an unhinged sense of humour. What we do know is that episode 16 is the introduction to the Flying Graysons.
For those who are not in the know, the Flying Graysons are the parents to Dick “Robin” Grayson, the Boy Wonder and the future Batman’s sidekick. The young Grayson hasn’t been born yet but this episode will show how Mary Lloyd, the daughter of a clown gets together with John Grayson, the son of a trapeze artist.
Mary Loyd is set to be portrayed by Abbi Snee while John Grayon will be portrayed by Robert Gorrie. According to Vixen Varsity, a fight between a group of angry clowns and the trapeze artists will break out in the series when Gordon takes Dr. Leslie Thompkins (guest star Morena Baccarin) out for a date at the Haly’s circus. Detective James Gordon then brings in the ringmaster and an evil clown for an interrogation session.
As we’ve previously mentioned, the clown will let out a hysterical laughter.
This further fuelled speculations that The Joker will appear in this episode because Heller mentioned that the Joker will be teased on a weekly basis through various unknown characters. Besides, the villain is said to be inspired by the late Heath Ledger’s outstanding performance in Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight”.
Regarding the speculations, production company Warner Bros. TV refused to respond on the role. We can only speculate until Fox releases Gotham’s “The Blind Fortune Teller” on 11th Feb.
Check out the preview video and the promo video below:
So, do you think Monaghan is going to be The Joker? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.