(It recently occurred to me that my blog posts constantly cycle through Zelda, Mario, and Star Wars. So now I’m also going to talk about Batman.)

Spoiler alert for Gotham (2014)

Batman’s origin has been done to death. But there is a reason that people keep coming back to it. It’s an interesting story (if overdone), and I can’t help but obsess about it as well. I’ve been wondering, in particular, if his origin could be adapted as a prequel TV show, a sort of ‘young adventures’ of Bruce Wayne. Smallville did something similar for Superman, but that’s a different situation. Clark Kent had powers even before becoming Superman, so he could already save people and do superhero things – which he does constantly throughout Smallville. But before he was Batman, Bruce was just Bruce. He can’t save Gotham City and have adventures before training and becoming Batman (not successfully, anyway). So, how would a Batman prequel show work? What would even happen in it?

Gotham

The TV show Gotham attempted precisely this. The show takes place when Batman is still a kid and features the newly arrived Detective James Gordon as its main character. During the show, he works his way through the Gotham Police (GCPD) and attempts to deal with both the city’s corruption and the weird, super-powered criminals. This, to my mind, seems like a pretty good solution to having no Batman in a Batman prequel show. It can’t, in its earliest seasons, have an untrained Bruce doing the crime-fighting, so it should have a relatively young Gordon do it instead. But, as much as I enjoyed it, Gotham was a mixed bag – no slight on the people who made it. I watched the whole thing, and parts of it were great. I was a fan. I especially enjoyed Bruce Wayne’s gradual transformation into Batman. I also get the impression that there were licensing issues (it was a Fox show despite Batman/DC being a Warner Bros property), which probably led to creative restrictions. I’m guessing that this is why the showrunners insisted that Jerome/Jeremiah (the best part of the show) wasn’t the Joker – despite clearly being the Joker.

But I still have some critiques of Gotham (I’ll keep it brief). For one thing, the world felt very small. They had a tiny group of core villains and characters who, whilst enjoyable, kept repeatedly doing the same thing. There can and should be overarching villains, but a superhero show needs some villain-of-the-week stuff. In Gotham, the same core villains would continuously get bested by Gordon and subsequently devise new evil plans, which was a shame. They had some great takes on the classic characters, and they were well-cast. But they ultimately came to feel a bit incompetent and comic-relief esc. For instance, although their version of The Penguin was excellent, from season 2 onwards, he kept having the same arc. At the start of the season, he would lose his crime empire, and by the season’s end, he would regain it. Rinse and repeat. Again, I appreciate that licensing may have been an issue by limiting the characters they could use. But that’s not an adequate excuse. If you can’t use many established characters, you should create new characters like they did in The Batman cartoon.

Gotham also used a lot of annoying played-out tropes that are fine in moderation but, to my mind, are used too frequently. It really annoyed one of my friends, also a fan, how Gordon kept talking about his “inner darkness”. It’s like they were pretending he was Batman. And speaking of Batman, they omitted several significant parts of his origin story. For instance, the show’s version of Leslie Thompkins barely interacts with Bruce despite being an important part of his supporting cast in the comics. She was a friend of his parents, who became a parental figure to the young Bruce and opposed him being Batman, which the show did not do. Perhaps most egregiously, the show never established Bruce’s fear of/obsession with bats – he never fell down a well and got attacked by them. In fairness, not every version of Batman’s origin has this. But it seems like a pretty glaring omission for a show about Batman’s origin (and Gordon’s inner darkness). Overall, the show just felt a bit poorly put together. As though they never really thought out the story. The threat of cancellation, which the show often faced, may have played a role here (you don’t want to set something up and then never get to do it), but even within the seasons, it felt like there was a lack of planning. Season 5 opens with an awesome flashforward set in the middle of the night. But when they finally get to it, in episode 11, it’s daytime. Also, there’s a bit in season 2 where an original character – with mind control abilities – tells someone, in a very intense way, to “make me a grilled cheese sandwich”. This isn’t particularly relevant to what I was saying, but it lives rent-free in my head.

Prequel Pitch

Still, it is easier to criticise than create. Gotham does get a lot right. For instance, I think it’s a good idea for the Batman prequel to focus on a young James Gordon. And it does get me thinking: how should the pitfalls be avoided? A while ago, I got into it with a friend and had a lot of thoughts on the matter (don’t worry, this isn’t going to be a boring episode-by-episode synopsis). Again, no slight on the creators of Gotham; we were both fans. It’s just a few points on what I think should be done differently in a hypothetical future remake/redo of the Batman prequel show.

Firstly, Gordon should still be the main character. But from there, I would immediately diverge. The Gotham show started with the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne (Bruce’s parents), which is quite a logical place to start, but I don’t think it should happen in the first episode. If we’re going to spend five seasons watching Bruce turn into Batman due to his parent’s death, let’s meet him shortly before it happens and also get to know a little bit about them. I’m not suggesting this be dragged out for too long, though. Have the show start with a back-to-back two-episode premier/two-part story, and have the murder occur at the end of episode 2. This will allow, I think, a lot of foundations to be built. Bruce’s show-long character arc (becoming Batman) can begin with him as a reasonably normal, trauma-free kid. His obsession with bats, moreover, can also be quickly established. Perhaps his episode 1 introduction could be his father rescuing him from the well. This could also make his parents into characters rather than plot devices. The two-part premiere can establish their friendship with Leslie Thompkins, their hopes for the city and their tireless social work (Thomas working at a free clinic and Martha running a charity). It can further depict their views on justice and the sanctity of human life, which they pass on to Bruce. This will hopefully mean that when they get killed at the end of episode 2, it will hit the audience a bit harder than just being another depiction of something we’ve seen a million times before.

The premier could primarily focus on a newly arrived James Gordon working with the Waynes to capture a crazed proto-superhero (a possible inspiration for Bruce) to whom good cop Gordon should be fiercely opposed. I think a show needs a strong opening, and I’m hoping this would be a better hook than a procedural focusing on the immediate fallout of the Wayne murder (save that for episode 3). They should also learn the killer’s identity, Joe Chill, by the end of season 1 (though perhaps Bruce refuses to accept that it was just a random mugging). But again, I don’t think anything should be dragged out too long. The seasons should be kept concise, 8 or 12 episodes each (maybe half that for season 5), with some small time jumps in between seasons so that we can get to Batman within the course of the show – instead of having an enormous time jump at the end, as Gotham did.

Right from the start, it should also be apparent that Gotham City desperately needs Batman. Season 1 of Gotham initially tried to be a police procedural, and whilst there should be a bit of that, policing should routinely fail. Gordon will have some successes, but, for the most part, he should find the city’s weird crime impossible to deal with. His subsequent horror at not ‘doing it by the book’ and his difficulty adapting to Gotham City should be a long-running character arc. In practice, this means that the criminals should be weird, over-the-top and incredibly dangerous right from the get-go. In the comics, the supervillains are usually depicted as a sub-surface element that rises to the top after Batman does away with conventional criminals (the mob). But in a prequel show, they should be operating alongside the mob. Otherwise, it would become a generic police procedural that happens to be set in Gotham City. This is probably why Gotham quickly pivoted to super-powered criminals in season 2. From the start, Gotham City should be overrun by bizarre, totally irrational villains that policing methods don’t work on. In seasons 1 and 2, though, they should be predominantly original villains. Gordon needs to have some victories (by reluctantly bending the rules), but if the major Batman villains and rogues all lose to Gordon, then there isn’t any need for Batman. By having most of the early villains be original characters, inferior in skill and ability to the comic book villains, Gordon can have victories without undermining Batman’s origin (this would also help resolve any licensing issues). In fairness, the Gotham showdid have some original characters, but it was also too reluctant to discard them. They also kept showing up again, massively overstaying their welcome. Occasionally, original villains can be used more than once. But they should usually be disposed of quickly to make room for a constant influx of new and progressively more dangerous original villains and, eventually, in the later seasons, the comic book villains as well. This continuous influx will also help make Gotham City seem in desperate need of Batman.

Some comic villains should still appear. The Red Hood, for instance, can be a recurring threat. In the comics, the Red Hood was a pre-batman villain identity that different criminals would adopt to confound the police; it was always someone different behind the mask. For some reason, Gotham onlyused them once. The Ridler and the Penguin should also feature in the early seasons. Gotham’s take on these characters and their origin was brilliant. My one grievance is that they became significant much too early. They should gradually build their power and stay out of Gordon’s way during the early seasons. Otherwise, they’ll end up losing constantly to the police and other criminals (which happened in the show) and thereby diminish the threat they pose to Batman. The Ridler and the Penguin should never lose until, maybe, the later seasons. As a side note, Gotham’s decision to make Barbara Keen (Gordon’s wife/fiancé) evil was great, and I liked it. But they again overdid it – she returns from the dead at one point. Also, if Barbara Keen is evil, they should probably use the version of Batgirl in which she’s Gordon’s niece instead of his and Barbara Keen’s daughter.

Besides the constant influx of bizarre supervillains, much of the overarching story should be Gordon trying to deal with the immense corruption of the Gotham City police. Gotham occasionally touched on the GCPD’s corruption but didn’t do it justice. Most of the show cops, including the various police captains, were honest and on Gordon’s side. This should not be the case. Gordon should be constantly battling corrupt police captains. Detective Flass (Gordon’s corrupt partner in the comics) should be a recurring antagonist instead of having only one appearance as in Gotham. And Bullock (a key GCPD character) should initially be an antagonist who gets redeemed by Gordon over the course of the show. Meanwhile, Falcone (the crime boss) should be all-powerful and unassailable (though potentially usurped by the Penguin in the final couple of seasons). Crispus Allen and Renee Montoya should be honest cops hired by Gordon in the show’s final couple of seasons instead of honest cops who appear briefly in season 1 and never appear again.

Crucial to any Batman prequel show is constant escalation and failure. My main critique of Gotham is that Gordon was able to deal with most of Batman’s rogue gallery and also every escalating challenge and problem the city faced (despite his inner darkness), up to and including No Man’s Land (a famous comic book arc). And this again makes Batman unnecessary. Things need to escalate beyond Gordon’s ability for Gotham City to really need Batman. In seasons 1 and 2, Gordon should be able to deal with the original villains and weird threats. It won’t be easy and will involve a lot of rule-bending, but he’ll just about manage it. But as time passes, the villains should become increasingly threatening. Then, when the comic book villains start appearing, it should be game over. No amount of rule-bending or honest policing should be sufficient to deal with the likes of Penguin or the Riddle (when they at last become the main antagonists), nor any other comic villain. In each season, Gordon’s genuine accomplishments and successes should be overshadowed by the city’s rapid descent into chaos. By the show’s end, Gordon and his cadre of honest cops should, for all their accomplishments, be utterly incapable of stopping the villains. Gotham City won’t just need Batman; it won’t survive without Batman. If Gordon is the main character, he should eventually be forced to accept the need for Batman (hence why he should be so opposed to superheroes in the show’s two-part premiere). A Gordon-focused Batman prequel show should start with Gordon vehemently rejecting superheroes and end with him turning on the Bat Signal.

I know I said I wouldn’t do an episode-by-episode synopsis, and I won’t, but I do want to briefly outline a potential season structure to show how things could get worse despite Gordon’s successes.

-After the show premiere, Season 1 could have the newly arrived James Gordon working with a genuinely honest mayor to deal with the corrupt GCPD and catch the Wayne killer (whilst also battling weird proto supervillains). But at the season’s end, though Gordon catches Joe Chill, Falcone would manage to stage a coup – violently replacing the honest mayor with a corrupt lackey. It could also depict the early stages of Penguin and the Riddler’s origin.

-Season 2 could then have Gordon struggle to maintain his position in the GCPD against a hostile mayor, commissioner and police captain. Bruce, refusing to believe that a random mugger killed his parents, could start putting himself in harm’s way as he attempts to prove that it was actually Falcone. The season could end with Bruce accepting the truth about Joe Chill and helping to save Gordon’s career. Bullock’s redemption arc begins, the corrupt police commissioner is fired, and Gordon becomes a captain. But, at the same time, the commissioner would just be replaced by another Falcone lackey (as in the comics) who encourages an escalation of supervillain activity with the likes of Jerome and Hugo Strange launching attacks on the city (as in Gotham Season 2).

-In season 3, Gordon, Bullock and a cadre of honest cops would move against Falcone. At first, it would seem like they’re succeeding, but only for Falcone to be overthrown at the last moment by Penguin and the Riddler (marking the emergence of the comic villains). Meanwhile, Bruce would begin training.

-Season 4 would see Gordon and the GCPD struggle to survive against the onslaught of Penguin and the Riddler whilst Bruce trains with Talia and the League of Assassins. At the end of the season, Gordon would manage to prevent the total conquest of Gotham City by the Penguin but fails to prevent the Riddler from unleashing an army of supervillains imprisoned in Arkham, beginning a No Man’s Land arc for season 5.

-Season 5 would then be a Bruce-centric half-season in which the GCPD gets quickly overrun by a gallery of classic Batman villains who carve up Gotham between themselves. The show’s final few episodes would see Gordon entirely ‘throw out the book’ to save Gotham from hell on Earth. Meanwhile, Bruce returns from his training and, as a proto-Batman, systematically retakes Gotham (during this season, Bruce could accidentally drop the latest Red Hood into a vat of acid – the classic Joker origin).

The show would end with Gordon (as commissioner) rebuilding the GCPD. We would also get the first hint of the Joker. The final scene, as said, would be Gordon turning on the Bat Signal.

-Dexter