Fox’s Gotham is adding an Emmy winner to its ranks.
The Shield alum Michael Chiklis has joined the DC Comics adaptation as a series regular, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
As first reported by TVLine, Chiklis will play Capt. Nathaniel Barnes, who joins the Gotham City Police Department and rids it of its “dead wood.” He’s unafraid of making enemies — on either side of the law — and serves as a mentor for Ben McKenzie‘s Gordon. The character will prove himself to be a strong ally to Gordon — but he one day may make for an equally powerful enemy.
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Chiklis joins the series as Gotham is poised to spend its sophomore season exploring the “rise of the villains,” as showrunner Bruno Heller told fans at Comic-Con. McKenzie noted that additional good guys would be joining the cast who all will have to band together to combat the apparent new crime wave that likely will include Cameron Monaghan‘s Joker. The Shameless star confirmed his role as the future Joker heading into the fan convention.
“We’re going to find out how the hell Jerome, the proto-Joker we met [in season one], connects with the Joker as people know him. That’s the big focus of the beginning of the second season. We’re going to tell the story of how the Joker came to be,” Heller told THR in May.
For Chiklis, the role marks his follow-up to American Horror Story: Freak Show and his return to broadcast television following CBS’ Vegas and ABC’s No Ordinary Family.
Gotham returns Sept. 21 at 8 p.m. on Fox.
