DC TV Watch: Is ‘Gotham’ Turning Bruce Wayne Into Batman Too Soon?

Welcome to The Hollywood Reporter‘s weekly DC TV Watch, a rundown of all things DC Comics on TV. Every Friday, we round up the major twists, epic fights, new mysteries and anything else that goes down on The CW’s Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl and Fox’s Gotham and what it all means. Note: Gotham, Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow did not air new episodes this week.

Gotham 

Suiting up too soon? | As more time passes since the Gotham season two finale aired, the more it seems as if the Fox DC prequel series is taking on Batman too soon. In Bruce Wayne’s (David Mazouz) final scene, he stopped a mugging in an alley dressed in all black before taking to the roof in a cowl-neck sweater and looking down on the city of Gotham in a very Batman-esque way. He became a proto-Batman. It was an exciting moment to see for sure, but after the excitement faded, doubt settled in. Bruce is still very much a young child on Gotham. Sure, he’s spent the last season training with Alfred (Sean Pertwee) in boxing and self-defense, but he is in no way ready to take on would-be muggers in the dark and dangerous alleys. We only just saw Bruce adopt the first rule of his moral code (no killing), and now he’s already a formidable vigilante, taking down criminals on his own? It’s too much too soon. He still has a good 15-20 years before he becomes the caped crusader, so Gotham needs to slow down. Let us see Bruce fail as a vigilante and stumble a bit before he succeeds. Gotham is a Batman prequel series, an origin story, so ostensibly, when Bruce becomes Batman, the show will end. Let’s delay that as long as possible. 

Possible peace? | Executive producer John Stephens has already revealed the name of the season four premiere via Twitter, and the title raises an interesting question. “Pax Penguina,” written by Stephens, roughly translates from Latin to mean “Peace Penguin.” Seeing as how Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor) recommitted himself to being the crime king of Gotham in the season three finale, encasing his former love-turned-nemesis the Riddler (Cory Michael Smith) in a block of ice as the centerpiece for his new lounge, the idea of Penguin seeking any kind of peace with any one person or organization sounds rather implausible. Could this possibly be referring to a temporary era of peace as Penguin lords over The Iceberg Lounge (a staple in the comics) with no one to challenge him? Or has Penguin finally achieved a kind of personal peace now that he literally froze any kind of feelings of love? In any case, a Penguin-centric season premiere is an exciting hour to look forward to throughout the summer hiatus.

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Legends of Tomorrow

Going to the circus | Legends of Tomorrow is set to stage a Titanic reunion in season three. Billy Zane has been cast to play P.T. Barnum in one episode next season, reuniting him with his former Titanic co-star Victor Garber. “We cast him as P.T. Barnum because we knew that he would be able to find the soul beneath the larger-than-life showman,” executive producer Phil Klemmer told EW.com. “Truth is, Barnum never said ‘there’s a sucker born every minute.’ He was less a con man, more the father of modern advertising. A guy who made things ‘go viral’ before that was a thing. Sure, in one sense, he’s the villain of our story, but in another, he’s just a guy who wants to put on a good show. Anyone who works in TV can relate to that, right?! Anyway, Billy seemed like the perfect guy to get that duality.”

Into the history books | Thanks to Zane’s casting, viewers now know some surprising new details about what Legends will be tackling in season three. “The thing about history books is that they turn famous people into 2-D characters,” Klemmer says. “This season on Legends, we want to meet other famous figures from history, people like Barnum, people we think we know, so that we can find the aspects of them, the parts of their story, that the history books left out — we want to bring history to life by infusing it with heart, humor and total absurdity (often at the same time).”

What do you think of all the shocking reveals on and announcements for the DC Comics shows this week? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Gotham returns for season four on Fox in the fall; Supergirl will return for season three on The CW in the fall; The Flash will return for season four on The CW in the fall; Arrow will return for season six on The CW in the fall; and Legends of Tomorrow will return for season three on The CW in the fall.