Earlier in the week, Fox debuted a promo for the upcoming sixteenth episode of Gotham, which seemed to indicate that the episode would introduce the show’s version of The Joker, a.k.a. Jerome, played by Cameron Monaghan (Shameless) [watch the promo here].
Well, The Hollywood Reporter caught up with showrunner Bruno Heller, asking him whether that is indeed the young Clown Prince of Crime:
“He may or may not be The Joker. All I can promise is that’s not a bait and switch. It’s a long game we’re playing here. The great fun of this show is that it’s the origin story of these famous characters, and with The Joker, the wonderful thing is that nobody knows where he came from and what his genesis was. What I can guarantee is that you have to follow that brilliant young actor Cameron Monaghan down the line, and you will see how this leads to the character we all know and love. When the episode is aired, people will see it’s not an imitation of somebody else or an homage to anyone. It’s a performance in and of itself.”
Heller then went on to discuss the challenge of bringing The Joker into the pre-Batman world of Gotham: “In the pantheon of villains, he’s the dark king of this world, so it would be cheating the audience if we didn’t get into that. On the other hand, as those who are deep into the mythology know, the actual Joker — the full-on villain himself — does not appear until after Batman appears. That’s both a narrative opportunity and a narrative problem at the same time. As with all of these stories, it relies on not giving the game away too early.”
So, what do you make of that? Is Jerome the future Joker? Let us know your thoughts…
Gotham airs on FOX on Monday nights. Follow all of our coverage here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszH_jfuJoo8HCG1-lGjvfH2F&v=1QUX1lTmOqc&feature=player_embedded
Originally published February 14, 2015. Updated December 15, 2019.
