Gotham (Fox)

[BatmAngelus]

Gotham has given us the first live action versions of Bullock, Crispus Allen, Montoya, Leslie Thompkins, Hush, and The Electrocutioner. This upcoming season looks to be giving us more with original character Theo Galavan, played by James Frain:

With Fish Mooney out of the picture (at least for now), Gotham will be introducing a new formidable villainous duo in Season 2: Theo Galavan and his sister, Tabitha, who will go on to become DC Comics super-villain Tigress. James Frain (The Tudors, True Blood) has been cast in one of the two new regular roles on the Fox series. He will play billionaire industrialist Theo Galavan. A new Gotham arrival, Galavan is the savior the city has been waiting for — he is sexy, heroic, and lovingly devoted to his sister Tabitha (yet to be cast). But behind Galavan's altruism is a centuries-old vendetta. Galavan and Tabitha (aka Tigress) will take chaos and violence to a new level in order to bleed Gotham. Their plan will lead to the creation of new villains... and the destruction of others.

http://deadline.com/2015/06/gotham-james-frain-cast-villain-tigress-brother-1201454198/

His sister, Tabitha Galavan, alias Tigress (though in the comics, Tigress is Artemis Crock):

Jessica Lucas (Evil Dead, Pompeii) has joined the cast of Gotham as new regular Tabitha Galavan, aka Tigress, sister of Theo Galavan (James Frain) and half of the new villainous duo that will be introduced in Season 2 of the Fox series. Tigress is the lead enforcer for her brother Theo, the billionaire industrialist hell bent on taking over Gotham. Sexy, violent, and toting a bullwhip, she's the opposite of her cold and calculating brother – deriving a sensual pleasure from the violence and mayhem she's tasked with.

http://deadline.com/2015/06/jessica-lucas-cast-tigress-gotham-james-frain-1201459337/

And a young Silver St. Cloud, played by Natalie Alyn Lind, who'll be serving as another love interest for Bruce and have ties to the Galavans:

EW can exclusively reveal that The Goldbergs star Natalie Alyn Lind has joined Gotham's second season as Silver St. Cloud, who's described as an ethereal beauty with the pristine manners of a Gotham debutante. Add in the fact that she lost her parents at a young age, and it's understandable why she and Bruce end up drawn to each other.

And as Bruce's friend — and love interest — Silver introduces Bruce to her uncle Theo Galavan, who just so happens to be a billionaire philanthropist who's running for Mayor. Needless to say, Bruce finds a father figure in Theo, but as for Silver, well, she's described as having a heart beating with dark intent. In other words, she's probably not someone Bruce wants to fall for.

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/07/17/gotham-natalie-alyn-lind-silver-st-cloud

Still, I'm more in anticipation for who's playing the young Victor Fries and Hugo Strange...

[johnnygobbs]

Isn't Silver a sympathetic character in the comic-books?  I like that the show seems to be retaining her privileged, socialite background but since when was she a dark character or an orphan?

[BatmAngelus]

To be honest, Silver kinda lacks depth in the comics, in my opinion, beyond a socialite girl who falls for Bruce and figures out his secret identity. I don't mind the new backstory, but given her connections to the Galavans, I have a feeling that they will end things in a way that we won't really be able to picture her as a love interest when Bruce is an adult. Just my hunch.

Also curious if she'll stay blonde for the role or if they'll actually give her the silver hair in the comics.

[BatmAngelus]

Michael Chiklis has joined the cast as a character named Captain Nathaniel Barnes:

http://tvline.com/2015/07/21/michael-chiklis-gotham-cast-captain-barnes-season-2/

Who's Barnes, exactly? Per Gotham's producers, he "lands on the GCPD like a tornado, ripping out the dead wood of Gotham's police force. He is a law and order zealot; unafraid of making enemies – on either side of the law. For Gordon (Ben McKenzie), Barnes is a hero and a mentor, someone with whom he can share the burden of heroism. Captain Barnes proves himself to be a strong ally to Gordon... but one day he will make an equally powerful enemy."

I must say that I'm finding it odd how these shows have kept adding new characters like Barnes, Galavan, Bunderslaw, and Fish Mooney or altering comic characters like Tigress, Barbara Kean, Sarah Essen, and Leslie Thompkins to the point where they might as well BE original characters.

This latest news makes me think that Chiklis could've been very interesting as a version of Gillian Loeb instead, who starts out as an ally before becoming Gordon's enemy, as opposed to the current version of Loeb who is just a corrupt bureaucrat from day 1.

[The Laughing Fish]

Anyone who remembers Michael Chiklis as a corrupt cop in The Shield will know that he'll have no problems nailing the role here. He'll make a good antagonist for Gordon.

[BatmAngelus]

No doubt.

There are two new TV spots:

I'm going to guess that this is where Thomas Wayne hid secret documents about Wayne Enterprises, intending to expose them, which could've been the reason why he was killed.

This one shows more:

It looks like Gordon may be demoted (again), given a shot of him in uniform threatening Loeb.
Too soon for Chiklis footage yet, but we do get glimpses of Theo Galavan and Tigress (with the whip), as well as glimpses of returns from Mr. Zsasz, Jerome, and Richard Sionis (in the same shot as Jerome if you pause it).

[BatmAngelus]

http://deadline.com/2015/08/gotham-casts-leo-fitzpatrick-recurring-season-2-villain-1201498329/
Another character has been added:

The Wire alum Leo Fitzpatrick is set for recurring arc on the second season of Fox's Batman prequel series Gotham.

Season 2 will focus on "The Rise of the Villains" and Fitzpatrick's character will certainly fall under that category. He'll play Joe Pike, the leader of a notorious gang of arsonists known as the Pike Brothers. Series stars David Mazouz, Robin Lord Taylor, Camren Bicondova, Cory Michael Smith, Erin Richards, Morena Baccarin, Donal Logue and Sean Pertwee will all return for the second go-round.

I'm curious if the "arsonists" lead into the creation of Firefly.

I'm also wondering if Joe Pike or the Pike Brothers are meant as adaptations of Mad Dog Pike, from the Two-Face origin Eye of the Beholder storyline. Since Maroni is dead now, perhaps the Pikes will be the one destined to scar Harvey?

[BatmAngelus]

It looks like Cameron Monaghan's Jerome (supposedly the young Joker) will play a bigger role in Season 2 than we thought, unless this footage of him is all from one episode.

UPDATED: It looks like the show is taking a cue from Batman #1 in having Jerome disguise himself in police uniform (some people like i09 have been comparing this to The Dark Knight, but Jerome looks way closer to the comic panel than Ledger did, since he doesn't have the ugly scars).

It also hints that he'll be getting mentorship/advice from Theo Galavan's character, who is hinted to be a major DC villain:

"Theo Galavan arrives in Gotham as a prodigal son returning," Cannon says. "He comes from a very wealthy family with ancient roots in the building and foundation of Gotham. It takes a while for us to understand why he came back to Gotham and what his plan is, but it's an insidious one, obviously. He's a little bit like the Great Gatsby and Dracula coming to town with money and influence and charm and trying to bend to Gotham to serve him."

But it sounds like Theo has much more up his sleeve. In fact, Cannon says that Theo is the "origins of a very famous DC villain" -- one who will rely on other villains to help him achieve his goals.

"This season is about how one man will unleash and empower the villains and make them understand that they are more powerful than the people fighting against them," Cannon says. "They are the pioneers for Gotham. They are the ones who will change things because with chaos and destruction is the only way you can build. You can't rebuild a city without first destroying it."

http://www.tvguide.com/news/mega-buzz-gotham-james-frain-rise-of-the-villains/

Fans are speculating Ra's Al Ghul and while that would make sense with the description, but I'd honestly prefer a rest from that character after Nolan's trilogy and Arrow (along with the fact that Theo himself does not seem to share any visible similarities to Ra's at the moment).

If I had to, I'd throw my vote in for Theo turning into Professor Hugo Strange. Hugo Strange sounds like an alias and his look could easily be taken on by someone who wants to be in disguise (what if Theo has to go into hiding, so he grows the beard, shaves his head, and puts on the glasses). Strange is one of the first Batman villains and has always been older than Bruce, so the age difference makes sense. He was also brought back in a major way in the comics around the same time that Silver St. Cloud was introduced. And in terms of creating villains, Strange created the Monster Men, which were basically the precursors to Bane.

[riddler]

Has it been stated yet if this show shares the same universe as Arrow and the Shield? It's implied it takes place in modern times so it certainly could as the Green Arrow is typically older than Batman. If so, it isn't logical to use Ras Al Ghul unless it's the same actor.

[johnnygobbs]

Has it been stated yet if this show shares the same universe as Arrow and the Shield? It's implied it takes place in modern times so it certainly could as the Green Arrow is typically older than Batman. If so, it isn't logical to use Ras Al Ghul unless it's the same actor.

No, it's a completely separate universe.  The Arrow and Flash TV shows are produced and screened by different networks to Gotham, thus we could see an entirely different version of R'as on the latter.