On the Dark Streets

So I am going to do things just a little differently tonight. Going to turn my attention to the small screen just for a bit and I hope you follow me on this little journey. I am an avid watcher of Arrow; yes a CW show and yes I don’t care! I love the show and I love that the creators of said show have done a great job making it like Christopher Nolan’s vision of Batman. So I thought to myself, why not bring Batman back to the small screen… well someone beat me to the punch, sort of.

I found out last night that FOX is bringing the world of Gotham City to the small screen. Here’s the catch… it’s not Batman. The series will follow the steady rise of James Gordon. Yep, the ol’ commish is getting his own backstory. Not only is FOX telling the backstory of Gordon, but also of many of the infamous villains that roam the streets of Gotham.

Now, I am going to fully admit I am a little nervous about this because let’s face it, how in the world are they going to make a TV series of James Gordon? It’s going to be like Hawaii Five-0 set in Gotham? Or are they going to make it like Arrow and have Gordon take on the baddies of Gotham? My personal feeling is they should probably do a Veronica Mars, where there is one main case/villain and in between that there are random cases he takes on.

According to FOX they have found their James Gordon which will be Ben McKenzie. McKenzie has been in one ridiculous show, The O.C., and a much underrated show, Southland. In the later he played a young police officer on the LAPD, so playing Gordon probably won’t be too much of a stretch. However, Gordon, along with the universe, is iconic. I think us, as Batman, fans deserve a good long lasting show that isn’t going to be punch-line on late night TV. Do we really want to trust this guy with this role? Of course we really have no choice, because sadly none of us are sitting in that board room making these kinds of decisions. But we can always pretend, right?

There are many rogues in Batman’s gallery that we can choose from that were “created” long before the Dark Knight took to the rooftops.  Also, let us not forget the crime bosses that ruled the city before the Bat made his appearance. Let’s start…

Carmine Falcone- yes I started with a mobster because it’s a little easier. Falcone is a Mafia boss with connections all over the city. Hey, what’s Eric Roberts doing? Yeah I know he was in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight but he played this part pretty well and I don’t remember hearing of him doing anything else at the moment.

Mad Hatter- Jarvis Tetch is obsessed with everything Lewis Carroll. Not absolutely sure if Tetch came before Batman, but still would be cool to see. I think Mark A. Sheppard (Supernatural) would be great. I think he can pull off being OCD and creepy all at once.

The Penguin- One of the greatest villains of all time. This crime boss has been associated with Batman in every form of media. Why not here? I say bring back Danny DeVito. He is doing television, maybe not the same type of TV, but he is doing TV.

Victor Zsasz- A serial killer who likes to mark his body with the amount of people he has murdered. Briefly seen in Batman Begins, I think he would bring darkness to this series like no other villain on this panel. A TV actor with that kind of darkness… Macaulay Culkin. How cool would it be to watch Kevin McCallister from Home Alone all grown up and taking his anger out on Gotham City? Come on, I think it is time Culkin come back to mainstream.

Now lastly…The Riddler- Not really sure if Edward Nigma is pre-Cape and Cowl, but I do know that, like the Penguin, this villain is iconic and needs to make some sort of appearance. Let’s bring Alan Tudyk (Firefly) back to TV. I can really see Tudyk as a behind-the-scenes guy and not really a ‘villain’ that likes to be in the limelight.

I know that this list is just for fun, but I would like to hear what you all have to say. Please let me know if you agree or if I am just blowing smoke.