With the start of Gotham’s second season and the Rise of the Villains subtitle, speculation is rife over what other villains from Batman’s large rogues gallery will be introduced throughout the season. Cameron Monaghan’s Jerome, the character who could become The Joker, has already been given a larger role and Tigress made her introduction in the premiere. Now word has come from Bruno Heller that the Court of Owls will eventually appear in Gotham.
The Court of Owls is a group of villains recently introduced by Scott Snyder in the pages of Batman’s comic at the very beginning of DC’s New 52 reboot. They are a very old and secretive group, dating back to the founding of Gotham City. Its members are mostly some of Gotham’s oldest families and richest elite, controlling the city from the shadows. In the comic storyline, they decide they’ve had enough of Batman disrupting their city and decide to eliminate him with their highly trained and effective assassin, the Talon. Recently the storyline was loosely adapted in DC’s animated film Batman vs. Robin.
Speaking to ComicBook.com, Heller said “The Court of Owls is deep, deep, deep Gotham mythology. The comic book fans know about it, but I would suspect the larger audience is not so familiar. We sometimes have to make a distinction between the ‘Nolan-era Batman movie fans’ and the comic book fans. It’s not that they’re two separate audiences, just that there are two levels of engagement. Court of Owls is very much deep DC mythology.”
Heller continued by saying “We are absolutely going to explore that world down the line. Looking at the longevity of the show, we have to hold some cards back, we can’t just throw all of the elements, all of the story at once. The long arc of the show is Bruce Wayne’s journey of discovery down into the depths of the physical and meta-physical world of Gotham. The Court of Owls is a brilliant conceit that will absolutely be part of our storytelling. I just won’t tell you when.”
Though the Court never appeared in Gotham’s first season, there were a few slight hints at their existence. Given the conspiracy surrounding the Wayne murders and the shadowy activities of Wayne Enterprises, it’d make sense for the Court to appear in Gotham. As Heller stated, it’s just a matter of when and how exactly they will appear.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=qvTY7eXXIMg
Originally published September 22, 2015. Updated April 15, 2018.
