Batman: The Early Years
You could say that comic superheroes have become our new historical figures. Arguably, comic fans know more backstory about their favorite fictional heroes than they do about Rizal or Bonifacio, or even current events. Actual history pales in the face of the never-ending saga that unspools on the pages or on the screen. And for every Spider-Man or Avengers spinoff flick, there’s an origin story behind it.
It’s nothing new for TV shows to delve into the childhood of fictional characters for fresh material. It’s an age where everyone from Clark Kent (Smallville) to Norman Bates (Bates Motel) get their own origin series. But Batman — as many times as the story has been re-explored — might still have something worth looking at.
Gotham, which premiered locally on WarnerTV Sept. 25, attempts to explore the Bruce Wayne story arc in a prequel setting: the dark city before Batman came to be, offering a new slant on the oft-told tale.
Opening with the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents on a dark Gotham backstreet, the WarnerTV series forces us to ask: Was it a random killing that set young Wayne on a quest for vengeance and justice? Or was the whole thing a setup? A message for the young impressionable Bruce? And who was behind it?
Not a bad way to keep the Bat flames stoked.
The story begins with a young Detective Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie of The OC) questioning a spooked Bruce Wayne at the crime scene. Wayne sheds little light, but the scene is really meant to introduce Gordon’s backstory — father killed by a drunk driver while he, just a child, watched — and set up Gordon as a mentor. “However dark and scary the world might be now, there will be light, Bruce,” he promises.
The rest of the premiere episode focuses on the oddball pairing of young Gordon and grizzled Detective Harvey Bullock (nice name) played by Donal Logue. Of course, one is upright and idealistic, the other is — in Gordon’s words — “a slovenly, lackadaisical cynic.” They get along just fine, like pancakes and ketchup, rousting muggers and dispensing flying fists.
Their exploits take them deeper underground, where the crime circle of boss Carmine Falcone resides. Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith) is one such colorful character, but we also get glimpses of classic Batman villains, back in the day: a puzzling coroner in the Gotham City PD (played by Cory Michael Smith) who will probably become The Riddler; crime henchman Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor in a sly turn), who quickly earns his nickname (“Penguin”); and early sketches are laid out for loads of villains such as Catwoman, The Joker, Poison Ivy and others in the series.
Fitting that the Fox series is called Gotham: there are enough gothic touches — the moody skies, the remote mansions, the looming architecture — to keep any Tim Burton fan tuned in. The series boasts sharp writing. Expository speeches give us insights into the city called Gotham, a place you’d think we’d heard the final word on by now. “I’m a businessman,” shrugs crime boss Falcone (played by The Wire’s John Doman), when asked by Gordon why he helped close the Wayne murder by framing one of his own men. “You can’t have organized crime without law and order.”
And Jada Pinkett Smith’s Fish Mooney — a new face in the Batman pantheon — is a hoot in every scene she’s in. That being said, she’s no Heath Ledger, and Gotham is no Dark Knight.
Fans may be wondering why all the pre-villains are turning up at the same time, within the same general vicinity. But this is TV, after all. Arcs must be set in motion lest there be no second season.
Does the world honestly need another Batman? Seriously, will we ever be satisfied with any retelling of The Bat story, satisfied enough to stop looking for all the hidden angles? Well, as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest author Ken Kesey once pointed out, superheroes are “our mythology.” Comic book heroes persist because we invest a lot of story in their story. We — or rather, those who go about reimagining the superheroes — look for buried themes, possible archetypal patterns of behavior. This, more than who’s gonna put on the new Bat suit, or what kind of car he’s gonna drive, is what keeps fans interested in telling after telling.
Gotham — created by Bruno Heller (The Mentalist, Rome) has a bit more class than a plethora of would-be crime series out there. It’s not afraid to drop right down to the sleazy level of Gotham City itself, and it doesn’t lack in the action/violence department. One drawback of the series may be its choice to background Bruce Wayne himself: the season will tell us a little more about his upbringing — Batman, the teen years — but certainly not everything. Perhaps we will have to rely on Christopher Nolan’s origin story — or wait for the upcoming Ben Affleck remake — to fill in some gaps about what made a young man like Wayne go full batty.
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Gotham shows on WarnerTV, Saturdays 9 p.m., Skycable Channel 77, Destiny Channel 218 and Cignal Channel 66.
