‘Shameless’ star Cameron Monaghan appeared on the first season episode of ‘Gotham,’ “The Blind Fortune Teller” in the mysterious role of Jerome Valeska, a young man whose mother was a snake dancer and whose biological father was a fortune teller for Haly’s Circus. Jerome killed his mother Lila after he learned of her deviant sexual practices and his father Paul helped him cover up the crime, which was unraveled by James Gordon (Ben McKenzie). During the course of the episode, Jerome exhibited menacing and off-kilter behavior leading viewers to gather that the show had introduced their Joker.
And they were right!
At least it certainly seems that way, as Monaghan posted the following image on Instagram:
In April, showrunner Bruno Heller confessed that season two of the Fox series would heavily feature The Joker, Batman’s archenemy. “The beginning of Season 2 is a big Joker-oriented, or ‘how The Joker came to be’ kind of story. The beginning of Season 2 is the very earliest origins of how The Joker came to be.”
He later, very pointedly commented, “We’re going to find out how the hell Jerome, the proto-Joker we met earlier in this season, 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.”
No mystery there. Heller flat-out states that Monaghan’s Jerome will evolve into The Joker “as people know him.” It’s just a question as to how.
And who will stop him, since Bruce Wayne is still a brooding kid? Will it fall to Gordon and Bullock (Donal Logue) to snare the novice Clown Prince of Crime? And how will this already one-time killer fit into the gritty world of ‘Gotham?’ Will he run afoul of the other baddies vying for control of the seedy underworld?
At SDCC this weekend, ‘Gotham’ will hold its panel on Saturday night and if The Joker is playing as big a role as it seems, expect a lot of reveals regarding his arrival.
How do you feel about ‘Gotham’ bringing in The Joker sans Batman? Too soon? Do you think Monaghan is a good pick for the role?
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
