DC Entertainment Talks With ‘Gotham’ Ben McKenzie, Jada Pinkett-Smith, & Robin Lord Taylor! [Watch Video]

How do you create a Fox TV show about the DC Comics superhero, without the Dark Knight himself being involved? The cast of Gotham, including Ben McKenzie, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Robin Lord Taylor answer the question, revealing to comic book fans and newcomers what they should expect from the highly anticipated Batman prequel series.

In the DC Comics origin story, Bruce Wayne witnesses the death of his parents during a mugging, which may or may not have been planned. The TV show takes the basic premise and expands on the mythology, bringing in characters who weren't originally involved. Rookie detective James Gordon (McKenzie) is partnered with rogue cop, Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue), on solving the Wayne murders.

McKenzie explains the differences, "Our main departure from the comics is that James and Harvey (Logue) are assigned to the case of the Wayne murders. That relationship between, James and Bruce, to me is the underpinning of the entire show."

Comic book fans know Gordon will eventually become the police commissioner and that Oswald Copplepot [Taylor] is known by his mob boss name, The Penguin. Taylor explains how this fearsome character starts out as a henchmen.

Taylor delves more about the give-and-take relationship between Gordon and Copplepot, "In a strange way, even though they are adversaries, they both need each other. They use each other to get to the place where we all know them from."

Interestingly, the Matrix actress had to start from scratch, with her role, which doesn't even appear in the comics. Pinkett-Smith explains how she and showrunner Bruno Heller collaborated on her character, "[Heller] had ideas about Fish Mooney. I had ideas about Fish Mooney. And then we kind of put them together."

Check out the cast talking about Gotham here:

Gotham premieres in the fall on FOX Mondays at 9pm. Readers are you excited to see the Batman prequel series after hearing these little tidbits?