After a huge bidding war, Fox has landed a new opportunity to delve into the DC Comic universe with a “Batman” spinoff-prequel series.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the new project from Warner Bros. is called “Gotham,” and will explore the origin stories of Commissioner James Gordon and the villains that made the fictitious American city famous.
Bruno Heller (The Mentalist) will executive produce the one-hour drama that’s already received a series commitment from Fox.
In “Gotham,” Gordon will again be a detective with the Gotham City Police Department, but has not met Batman, who will not be part of the series. The Gordon character was introduced in 1939 in the very first Batman comic. Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, Commissioner Gordon has appeared in comic books as well as “Batman” films and series, including in Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight Trilogy,” where he was played by Gary Oldman.
This is the second DC concept to go into development this fall along with “Flash” at the CW.
In what seems like an effort to steal some shine, the announcement of the new series comes on the same day as the premiere of “Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.” an ABC TV series based on the Avengers franchise and owned by rival comic book giant Marvel. However, no details on casting or an air date was included in the announcement.
