Amph Gotham - the TV series

Why does everyone just assume that the joker is now a simple copy-cat of Jerome ? In TAS Batman used to watch the Grey Ghost as a kid, doesn't mean that he became the Grey Ghost as an adult, the gray ghost was just one piece of the puzzle of what shaped Bruce into becoming Batman.

Jerome just simply inspired the future Joker, it's just one piece in a big puzzle of what created the Joker.

 

Uh, I don't recall the Grey Ghost dressing up as a bat with ninja skills. He was a detective and supports your comparison only in that one aspect (one piece of the puzzle). Jerome is clearly more Joker than the Grey Ghost is Batman.

 

And the Grey Ghost was just a tv show, he was a fictional character that inspired Bruce. Jerome was a real living person. Batman didn't pick up the Grey Ghosts's mantle, but future Joker will definitely be picking up Jeromes

 

Joker shouldn't have any "inspiration" beyond a playing card and his own unhinged mind.

 

Are they still nodding and winking at the audience about the universe that will materialise when the show is due to either be retired or axed?

 

Jerome's ambulance is going to get in in accident with some crazy government lab truck that will spill on him and bring forth the Joker.

Sorry for the spoiler.

 

Huh. Interesting.

Don't think they did it too well, but looks like the makers are trying to go along the lines of The Shining when it comes to the Joker. He's not a person, he's an evil spirit or presence that pollutes Gotham City - just as the Batman is its dark guardian, hinted at by the remnants of Thomas Wayne's secret work which Bruce discovers. If Thomas Wayne hadn't been murdered, he'd have been the Batman - or the Shadow, or whatever.
Doesn't matter who's got the green hair or who's wearing the bat costume. It's an eternal battle between good and evil, or order and chaos, with Gotham as the battleground. Gotham will always have its insane clown and its dark knight.

Might be reading too much into it, but the comics do touch on such notions now and then. There's that line in Arkham Asylum, when the Batman is incapacitated and the inmates want to take his mask off:

Black Mask: I say we take off his mask. I want to see his real face.
The Joker: Oh, don't be so predictable, for christ's sake. That is his real face.

 

I kind of felt that way, but I don't think that's the case. I think they just wanted to push they notion that Jerome was the Joker or subliminally send a message to the viewer, "this is the closest you'll get to getting the Joker because WB won't allow us to use the actual character."

Yup and they'll continue to do so. I mean, I don't think you'll ever hear young master Wayne or Pennyworth refer to Bruce's dad's secret lair as the "Batcave." When the show is about to get the axe, I'm sure you'll see young master Wayne leave Gotham to train to become Batman.

Yeah, perhaps.

I think the show hinted at Thomas Wayne was trying to be some type of vigilante with a vest with two bullet slugs in it and a potential "Batcomputer."

And yeah, I think this iteration of Gotham is plague by an evil joking spirit. It will have Joker like characters, but not the actual Joker, much like we'll never actually get Batman in this series. Which is fine because Gotham is sort of an origin story/prequel to the Batman mythos, and I would prefer the Joker to not have an origin story.

I've the backbone of the first season was Penguin's quest to be the King of Gotham, the second season needs a strong backbone too, but I'm sure what it is yet.

 

From what I understand, WB/DC won't allow the TV side of things use any of their movie characters. Which is why some think the Flash will end before the Flash movie comes out and the limbo status of Titans.

 

So no one else think the rich dude who sprung the nutters could be The Joker? He admired Jerome's laugh, he has his Harley Quinn...

 

James Frain would make a good one, and people have brought it up, but the age difference between Bruce and Galavan is then problematic.

 

Yeah the age thing is a draw back for sure.

And he seems like the villain of the season, so may be dead by the end of it. We will see, I suppose.

 

I'm holding out hope that Barbara is the Joker.

And not just because of fanboy rage.

 

Nah. I think he's going to be part of the Court of Owls.

I think Barbara will be crazy bad for awhile before she redeems herself and Jim names his daughter after her.

 

I am not familiar with this Court of Owls.

 

If Leslie's actress is pregnant irl, maybe they'll write that into the show? Baby Jim maybe? Can't see Leslie being too eager to name her child after Barbara.

 

Secret society that have ruled and controlled Gotham since it's founding and have a legion of undead super ninjas called Talons to use as assassins. Batman was unaware of their existence until recently.

Spoiler

The showrunners have said they are going into the Court eventually, and that the Galavans have some tie to them. But I'm guessing since they want to destroy Gotham they are working against the Court's interests.

 

Spoiler

I'm not sure if the Galavans truly want to destroy Gotham. To me, it appeared that wanted to create chaos and then come to Gotham's rescue. Propping themselves up in the public eye.

 

Spoiler

I've heard there family was wronged by Gotham's elite in some way, so I'm guessing this is all revenge to destroy Gotham to get back at those people for what they did to their family. Think I read that in the Court of Owls announcement the showrunner gave...

 

^ As good as any motivation I suppose.

That's one of the things I'm tuning into Gotham for as I want to see how that plays out. It looks like Barbara will play a devise part in that as well.

Anyone else think that Bruce got a growth spurt? IIRC, he was shorter than Selina in season 1.

Pennyworth needs a woman.

 

That sucks - the Batman mythos is much better suited to a long-form TV format than trying to adapt it to the the sort of huge 'save the world' storylines required for a feature film. Fine for Superman, just not for Bats. In between dealing with the likes of the Joker trying to wipe out the entire city with the latest bomb/chemical weapon/biological weapon, Batman does deal with the more ground-level crime in Gotham (drug dealers, thieves, even kiddie porn). It's what makes him such a credible and interesting character - as opposed to Superman, whose schtick is rescuing Metropolis and the world from threats that couldn't be dealt with by anyone other than an invincible superhero.

 

kids at that age grow in spurts. plus he's two years younger than the actress that plays Selina