Tonight on Fox, James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) attempts to keep the titular city from wholly falling into the hands of its villains in the Gotham Season 2 finale. We'll see whether or not he's successful, or if Hugo Strange (BD Wong), the Penguin (Robin Lord-Taylor), and other villains from Batman's Rogues Gallery continue to rot the city from inside out.
In anticipation of tonight's Season 2 finale of Gotham, CBR caught up with John Stephens, one of the show's executive producers. Though the conversation focused on the moments of tonight's final hour, Stephens also teased the infamous villains who are bound to make an appearance in this fall's Season 3. If you're a fan of the show and a fan of Batman lore in general, these names, both old and new, should come as pleasant news.
Image via DC Comics[/caption]
Here's what Stephens had to say about the upcoming villains on Gotham Season 3:
"We'll be seeing Mad Hatter in Season 3. We'll be seeing the Tweedle Brothers, too, if we're going to bring the Hatter in. In line with the Court of Owls, we'll be seeing Talon. And, we should be seeing Solomon Grundy."
There's a lot packed into that reveal. First of all, let's talk about the Court of Owls, which was teased towards the end of the previous episode, "A Legion of Horribles." This organized crime syndicate/secret society, brought to the pages of DC Comics by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo back in 2011, has retroactively existed in Gotham for over two-hundred years. In the comics, they capture child performers from the circus and train them into lethal assassins known as Talons. Except that Stephens mentions a singular Talon, suggesting that it's either the Earth-3 version of Robin (not likely), or a single assassin in the employ of the influential Court, like the one seen in the animated adaptation, Batman vs. Robin, or the character who goes by Talon, a.k.a. William Cobb.
These villains make sense considering that their foundation has just started to be established in the show, but the other mentions come as a nice surprise, personally. I'm a fan of the Mad Hatter as envisioned on Batman: The Animated Series, but I'm surprised it's taken this long to get to him. He seems to be an easier villain to adapt than a Mr. Freeze, Clayface, or even Azrael. As CBR reports, the writers did toy with bringing him in to Season 2, but opted to save him for next season instead. Also known as Dr. Jervis Tetch, the Mad Hatter is a scientist who's proficient in using technology to accomplish mind control. His design is inspired by the character from Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." Created by Lew Sayre Schwartz and Bill Finger back in 1948, the character started out a bit more whimsical and has grown darker over the years. (He should be properly dark for Gotham by this point.)
Image via DC Comics[/caption]
Perhaps providing some much-needed muscle to the Mad Hatter are the Tweedle Brothers: Tweedledee and Tweedledum. This supervillain duo, created by Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson and Don Cameron in 1943, were originally cousins whose fat bodies allowed them to roll and bounce all around the Batman. The New 52 changed them to super-strong brothers who were also resistant to damage. They've often worked with their Alice in Wonderland cohort, the Mad Hatter, but their cooperation has been tumultuous at best. This could make for some interesting teammates in Season 3.
The final mention is that of Solomon Grundy, a character many viewers thought appeared in the Season 2 episode "Unleashed" as the hulking, grunting prisoner at Indian Hill. Created by Alfred Bester and Paul Reinman back in 1944, Grundy took his inspiration from a 19th century nursery rhyme and has terrorized a number of DC superheroes. His New 52 iteration has a pretty bonkers origin story and pits him against a Green Lanter, so it's safe to say that Gotham will probably focus on the character's more general traits like super strength and stamina, invulnerability, and a regenerative healing factor. Other than that, all you need to know about Solomon Grundy is that he want pants, too.
Be sure to check out Gotham's Season 2 finale tonight on Fox, and keep an eye out for more on the show's return for Season 3 this fall!
