The Joker can be a controversial character to handle in a prequel/re-imagining like
Gotham because a key element of modern incarnations of the character is the fact that no one knows where he came from or how he came to be. The hit TV series managed to find a clever way to deal with that fact by introducing several characters that could potentially become the Joker throughout the course of the first season, the most notable being the fan favourite Jerome Valeska.
Ever since Jerome was first introduced, many fans have dying to know when the character will next pop up in the show and, courtesy of showrunner Bruno Heller, we now have an answer:
"We're going to find out how the hell Jerome, the proto-Joker we met earlier in this season, connects with the Joker as people known him. That's the big focus of the beginning of the second season. We're going to tell the story of how the Joker came to be."
Though fans may have praised the Joker-esque characterisation of Jerome Valeska, not every character in the series has been met with such enthusiasm. In particular, James Gordon's ex-fiancee, a woman named Barbara Kean, was met with universally negative criticism. But did the writers and showrunners actually portray Barbara Kean's character poorly
ON PURPOSE? According to Bruno Heller, it was all part of the plan,
"The plot between Barbara and Lee (Leslie Tompkins) came out of the show as it developed. We always knew from the start that Barbara was the wrong woman for Gordon. We're going to see how [her attack on Lee] plays out." This seems a bit hard to believe, but then again, you can be the judge of that.
Everyone knows the name Commissioner Gordon. He is one of the crime world’s greatest foes, a man whose reputation is synonymous with law and order. But what is known of Gordon’s story and his rise from rookie detective to Police Commissioner? What did it take to navigate the multiple layers of corruption that secretly ruled Gotham City, the spawning ground of the world’s most iconic villains? And what circumstances created them the larger-than-life personas who would become Catwoman, The Penguin, The Riddler, Two-Face and The Joker?
“Gotham” is an origin story of the great DC Comics super villains and vigilantes, revealing an entirely new chapter that has never been told. From executive producer/writer Bruno Heller (The Mentalist, Rome), “Gotham” follows one cop’s rise through a dangerously corrupt city teetering on the edge of evil and chronicles the birth of one of the most popular super heroes of our time.
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