Fox premiered a 21-minute preview special called “The Legend Reborn” for their Batman prequel series, Gotham, in case you haven’t seen all the good parts in the extended preview and Comic-Con trailer. The first video immediately establishes some bad timing, considering what’s in the news, when Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) diffuses a stand-off without killing the perp and Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue) chastised him, “Someone takes a cop’s gun, you shoot ’em. That’s basic.”
That made me cringe, as did a similar exchange in the last video (“You’ve killed people before.” / “That was war.” / “This is war.”). But none of this made me cringe as hard as when Jada Pinkett Smith (Fish Mooney) says, “I love origin stories.” Of course she does.
Then the second video starts with The Waynes getting capped in front of Bruce (David Mazouz), and the third video covers the special effects, or more specifically the lack thereof. They used practical effects and real locations when they could, although they did add Gothic architectural elements to real New York City buildings using special effects.
Showrunner Bruno Heller also reveals they were going for a ’70s look, although modern technology like cell phones still exist in this world. The throwback look and New York City locations were a deliberate choice. “New York in the ’70s just kept getting worse and worse and crazier and crazier, and that’s the Gotham that we’re looking at today,” explains Heller. Does that mean Bruce Wayne becomes the Charles Bronson that Gotham deserves? (Joe Chill hates rich c**ts.)
The videos also include plenty of footage of Barbara Kean (Erin Richards), Sarah Essen (Zabryna Guevara), and The Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor), plus a little bit of Alfred Pennyworth (Sean Pertwee) and Catwoman (Camren Bicondova), but they barely acknowledge The Riddler (Cory Michael Smith) and Poison Ivy (Clare Foley). The last video contains a spoiler if you’re not familiar with Barbara Kean’s story line.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xjn_n4ixpMo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oI_P4xGURY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFfPxYEhKic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDDVY9aqh34
Gotham airs Mondays at 8/7c on FOX starting September 22nd.
Via Gotham
