‘Gotham’ episode 16 spoilers: Show boss on Joker possibilities

Is the Joker really coming to “Gotham” already? This is something that we’ve been wondering for the past few days, thanks largely to the promo that was released by Fox at the start of the week featuring actor Cameron Monaghan acting in a way that definitely looks like a joke … or a Joker.

Is the most notorious villain in the history of the Batman comics coming to the show? The promo really wants you to think so, and we understand why they are hyping it this way: The show wants ratings, and this attracts ratings for the most part. Still, this is not a character that can be dealt with lightly. The Clown Prince of Crime is iconic, and you’ve already got three amazing iterations out there in the Jack Nicholson version, the Heath Ledger version, and the version voice-acted by Mark Hamill. Expectations are high.

Is it for certain that this man is the Joker? Not exactly, and executive producer Bruno Heller makes that clear in an interview with TVLine:

“Not necessarily… but it’s not a bait-and-switch or red herring. That character is the true beginning of the Joker saga — the first page of the first chapter of the story that brings the villain known as Joker to life. And that’s what I’ll say about that!”

Maybe this is someone related to the Joker either by blood or by circumstance, and they will start to bring us down that road. Even still, we’re not sure how to think of it. There are certain villains who we find more effective almost because of the ambiguity around them. There’s an air of untouchable mystery. We never knew the Joker’s real origin story before, and that leaves it all open to interpretation and possibility.

We’ll have some further news related to “Gotham” soon, so stay tuned! Also, you can sign up today to get some further TV updates on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: Fox.)