Fox has revealed the logo and official synopsis for its upcoming non-Batman Batman show, Gotham. And several familiar villains have been mentioned in that synopsis -- if in oblique terms -- including the Joker, Two-Face, and the Riddler. First up, here’s the logo:



The blimps are a nice effect. And here’s the synopsis:

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.

Growing up in Gotham City's surrounding suburbs, JAMES GORDON (Ben McKenzie, “Southland,” “The O.C.”) romanticized the city as a glamorous and exciting metropolis where his late father once served as a successful district attorney. Now, two weeks into his new job as a Gotham City detective and engaged to his beloved fiancée, BARBARA KEAN (Erin Richards, “Open Grave,” “Breaking In”), Gordon is living his dream – even as he hopes to restore the city back to the pure version he remembers it was as a kid.

Brave, honest and ready to prove himself, the newly-minted detective is partnered with the brash, but shrewd police legend HARVEY BULLOCK (Donal Logue, “Sons of Anarchy,” “Terriers,” “Vikings,” “Copper”), as the two stumble upon the city's highest-profile case ever: the murder of local billionaires Thomas and Martha Wayne. At the scene of the crime, Gordon meets the sole survivor: the Waynes' hauntingly intense 12-year-old son, BRUCE (David Mazouz, “Touch”), toward whom the young detective feels an inexplicable kinship. Moved by the boy's profound loss, Gordon vows to catch the killer.

As he navigates the often-underhanded politics of Gotham's criminal justice system, Gordon will confront imposing gang boss FISH MOONEY (Jada Pinkett Smith, “The Matrix” films, “HawthoRNe,” “Collateral”), and many of the characters who will become some of fiction's most renowned, enduring villains, including a teenaged SELINA KYLE/the future CATWOMAN (acting newcomer Camren Bicondova) and OSWALD COBBLEPOT/THE PENGUIN (Robin Lord Taylor, “The Walking Dead,” “Another Earth”).

Although the crime drama will follow Gordon's turbulent and singular rise through the Gotham City police department, led by Police Captain SARAH ESSEN (Zabryna Guevara, “Burn Notice”), it also will focus on the unlikely friendship Gordon forms with the young heir to the Wayne fortune, who is being raised by his unflappable butler, ALFRED (Sean Pertwee, “Camelot,” “Elementary”). It is a friendship that will last them all of their lives, playing a crucial role in helping the young boy eventually become the crusader he's destined to be.

GOTHAM is based upon characters published by DC Comics and is produced by Warner Bros. Television. Executive producer Bruno Heller (“The Mentalist”) wrote the pilot, which will be directed and executive-produced by Emmy Award nominee Danny Cannon (the “CSI” series, “Nikita”).

We'd heard talk about characters like the Joker showing up from Chairman of Entertainment at FOX Kevin Reilly back in January, but this seems to lock in the idea that Gotham will be rolling out many of Batman's old foes eventually.

Via Fox and Coming Soon

Interesting. Sounds like the show should be good.

I'm looking forward to it, that's for certain.

Same here. Fuck the haters.

Eh, fuck those people. They'd still bitch and complain if it had Batman in. Just be happy we are getting these kind of shows now. It's awesome for a guy like me, who's really just getting into the superhero stuff, to have all these programs available to watch learning about all the characters.

I'm someone who knows a lot about superheroes and is in love with the whole thing, and I agree with you. Love having these shows.

I'll watch this. I'm sure there'll be some people saying "oh, that's not how -insert character- came to be," or similar, but I like the idea of having a different twist on a familiar story. Was Harvey Dent burned in a fire? Was he the victim of an acid attack? Did he inflict his facial injuries on himself after losing his mind? I think all of those could (and should) be valid options, and it might help to keep the show a bit more unpredictable (not that it is predictable now).

I'm not saying that they should go and make The Scarecrow a black transvestite Russian just to be wildly different. Just shake things up a bit. You're working with a fictional universe - to a certain extent it works to your laws, not the other way around.

I usually like a different spin on the backstory but I still feel like Joker shouldn't be touched in this. The entire point of Joker is he needs Batman and Batman needs him. He's not supposed to be there without Batman. The other characters are all actually set up before Batman arrives in the original series so I like them being in this, just not Joker.

Yeah, I can agree with both posts above me.

I like seeing certain spins on stuff. Better than seeing the same character a million times.

Also, I would not want to see a black transvestite Scarecrow.

I just don't feel like they should have any Batman villains in this. Only because I was under the impression that this was going to be set when Gordon was a rookie. And forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't Gordon already on the force when Bruce Wayne's parents die, and he's actually the one that comforts the young Wayne? So if these Villains were in it, that would imply that Batman's adversaries are 20-30 years older than him. Perhaps the Penguin could work.

And Two-Face/Harvey Dent is the same age as Batman/Bruce Wayne, so I guess if they showed him at like age 6 that would work lol

Unless Bruce Wayne is being depicted as the same age as Gordon, I don't see how this would work.