Fox has unveiled a new promo for Gotham Season 3, teasing what’s in store for the new season of the network’s Batman prequel series that they swear is not a Batman prequel series. Indeed, what was originally envisioned as a grounded, street-level show recounting the early days of James Gordon on the Gotham police force quickly evolved into a very silly and almost cartoon-y Batman show, even if the producers still maintain it’s not a series about the Caped Crusader's childhood. David Mazouz has taken on a much larger role in the show as Bruce Wayne than we previously anticipated, and a whole host of famous villains have passed through the Gotham universe’s revolving door.
This new promo has a bit of a dichotomy going. On the one hand, the a capella cover of Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” underscores the severity and drama of the situation. On the other hand, all the visuals of the show—from the makeup to the set design to the dialogue—are cartoony and over-the-top, so it doesn’t really gel. I haven’t watched the series since its first season so it’s entirely possible that the seres has improved, but while I enjoyed the silliness of the show at first, it began to feel like the show thought it was being serious and “real”, as opposed to leaning into the semi-ridiculousness of it all a la the Adam West Batman show.
This third season is subtitled “Mad City”, coming on the heels of Season 2’s “Rise of the Villains” theme, and it will find BD Wong’s Hugo Strange moving front and center as what appears to be the season’s Big Bad. Of course there’s still a gallery of villains milling about, from Robin Lord Taylor’s Penguin to Benedict Samuel’s Mad Hatter, and the season also finds Poison Ivy evolving significantly, as the show recast the preteen character with a more overtly sexual version, played by Maggie Geha.
Check out the Gotham Season 3 trailer below, and sound off in the comments. As I said I haven’t watched since Season 1, so I’m curious to hear what those who’ve kept up think of the series as a whole. Has it come together as a solid comic book series? Did Season 2 set up an exciting third season?
Gotham Season 3 premieres on Fox on September 19th.
Here’s the official synopsis for Gotham Season 3:
Season Three will peel back the curtain on the infamous criminal organization known as the Court of The Owls. With the Indian Hill escapees on the loose, JIM GORDON (Ben McKenzie) must take matters into his own hands as a bounty hunter in Gotham. He makes it his mission to find HUGO STRANGE (guest star BD Wong), the mastermind behind the horrifying Indian Hill experiments, and FISH MOONEY (guest star Jada Pinkett Smith), one of Strange’s subjects. Meanwhile, GCPD Detective HARVEY BULLOCK (Donal Logue) and Captain NATHANIEL BARNES (Michael Chiklis) remain at the forefront of the fight against crime in the monster-ridden city. Also, BRUCE WAYNE (David Mazouz), with the help of his trusted butler and mentor, ALFRED PENNYWORTH (Sean Pertwee), and former Wayne Enterprises employee, LUCIUS FOX (Chris Chalk), discovers there are still more secrets to uncover regarding his parents’ murders.
As the city sinks deeper into chaos, GOTHAM will continue to follow the evolving stories of the city’s most malevolent villains: THE PENGUIN (Robin Lord Taylor); EDWARD NYGMA/the future RIDDLER (Cory Michael Smith); SELINA KYLE/the future CATWOMAN (Camren Bicondova); BARBARA KEAN (Erin Richards), TABITHA GALAVAN/TIGRESS (Jessica Lucas) and BUTCH GILZEAN (Drew Powell). The series also will catch up with the future POISON IVY (Maggie Geha), who, after an encounter with a monster from Indian Hill, finds herself reborn as a young woman who’s harnessed the full power of her charms; and will dive into the origin stories of JERVIS TETCH/MAD HATTER (Benedict Samuel), a talented hypnotist teetering on the edge of madness; and the TWEED BROTHERS.
