Batman: Gotham Knights (DCEU)

* *The ultimate Batman show within the DCEU.*

**Batman: Gotham Knights** is an American superhero crime drama based on the characters from the Batman mythos, published by DC. It's a prequel to *Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice* (2015), existing in the same fictional continuity known as the DC Extended Universe (DCEU)/SnyderVerse, and is a standalone series of Wave Two of the franchise. Beginning 2 decades prior to the events of the film, the series explores the early adventures of Gotham City protectors, primarily Batman and James Gordon.

## Series Overview

[*To be added*]

Season 7 takes place sometime after the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, which prompted the US government to initiate the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). Within the US, an international terrorist organization named “Red Claw” enters Gotham City with nefarious intentions. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) cooperates with the GCPD to put an end to this terrorist organization.

In season 9, a severely injured Bruce Wayne leaves Gotham City and travels abroad to fix his injured spine, but also heal his physical and mental spirit after his deadly encounter with Bane. He enlists Jean-Paul Valley to temporarily act as Batman during his absence. As the year passes and Bruce slowly recovers both physically and mentally, Jean-Paul becomes progressively more violent with his methods and eventually breaks Batman's rules, which prompts Bruce Wayne to come back to Gotham and reclaim the mantle. Meanwhile, Jim Gordon spends his time in Blackgate Prison following his arrest under the charges of mass destruction, property damage and civilian casualties. He forms a temporary and uneasy alliance with the Penguin to escape the facility, especially when the latter finds out, that Carmine Falcone has reclaimed his power in Gotham and is coming to get rid of the loose ends. In the midst of Bane's supreme rein over Gotham, the Joker disappears from public spotlight after he arranged his face to be cut off by the Dollmaker.

## Cast and Characters

### Main

* **Batman/Bruce Wayne** is a billionaire socialite and the owner of “Wayne Enterprises” who dedicates himself to protect Gotham City from its criminal underworld as a highly trained, masked vigilante.
	+ Ben Affleck portrays an older version of the character in live-action DCEU movies.
* **Alfred Pennyworth** is Bruce Wayne’s legal guardian, butler, chief of security and trusted confidant.
	+ Jeremy Irons portrays an older version of the character in live-action DCEU movies.
* **James “Jim” Gordon** is the lieutenant of the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD) and a close ally of Batman. As the series progress, Gordon eventually succeeds his two previous superiors and becomes the Commissioner.
	+ J.K. Simmons portrays an older version of the character in live-action DCEU movies.
* **Lucius Fox** is the CEO of “Wayne Enterprises” and one of Bruce Wayne’s closest allies, who supply the masked vigilante with gadgets and tech.
* **Robin/Richard Grayson**.

### Recurring

#### Introduced in Season One

* **Aaron John Flass** is a corrupt detective of the GCPD.
* **Carmine “The Roman” Falcone** is the monopolistic ruler of the Gotham Criminal Empire.
* **Gillian B. Loeb** is the corrupt Commissioner of the GCPD, who is under Carmine Falcone’s payroll.
* **Hamilton Hill** is the corrupt Mayor of Gotham City, who is under Carmine Falcone’s payroll.
* **Penguin/Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot** is a businessperson and the owner of the high profile nightclub “The Iceberg Lounge”, which he uses to cover his background criminal operations.
* **Sarah Essen** is a rookie detective of the GCPD, who has just been transferred from Chicago and is assigned as Jim Gordon’s new partner.
* **Stanley Tucker Cobblepot** is a weapons dealer, who works for Carmine Falcone and operates from the “Final Offer” cargo ship; he is the prime suspect behind the murders of Bruce Wayne’s parents.
* **Two-Face/Harvey Dent** is the uprising District Attorney in Gotham City.

#### Introduced in Season Two

* **Ferris Boyle** is the CEO of “GothCorp”.
* **Gearhead/Nathaniel Finch** is an engineer at “GothCorp”, who works alongside Lucius Fox on the “Ion Cortex” device.
* **Mr. Freeze/Victor Fries** is the former employee of “GothCorp”.

#### Introduced in Season Three

* **Deadshot/Floyd Lawton** is an expect sharpshooter and assassin.
	+ Will Smith portrays an older version of the character in live-action DCEU movies.
* **Electrocutioner/Lester Buchinsky** is a mercenary, who uses custom-made electroshock gauntlets.
* **Firefly/Garfield Lynns** is a criminal, who uses a specialized fireproof suit and a flamethrower to commit crimes in Gotham City.

#### Introduced in Season Four

* **Aaron Cash** is a Corrections Officer at Arkham Asylum.
* **Jeremiah Arkham** is the hereditary head of Arkham Asylum.
* **Joan Leland** is the Chief of Psychiatry at Arkham Asylum. The character originally appeared in “Batman: The Animated Series (1992)”.
* **The Joker** is an inmate at Arkham Asylum with no knowledge of his past and his disfigurement; he will eventually become a psychopathic crime boss and the nemesis of Batman.
	+ Jared Leto portrays an older version of the character in live-action DCEU movies.
* **Lock-Up/Lyle Bolton** is the Chief of Security at Arkham Asylum, who specializes in incarceration and high-tech security systems and displays ruthless behavior towards the inmates.
* **Scarecrow/Johnathan Crane** is a psychologist at Arkham Asylum, who secretly performs fear-inducing experiments on the inmates and, recently, on the citizens of Gotham City with assistance from the criminally insane patients.
	+ Robert Englund voices the character, when he wears the Scarecrow suit.

#### Introduced in Season Five

* **Phosphorus Rex/Milo Match.**
* **Professor Pyg/Lazlo Valentin.**
* **Toymaker/Cosmo Krank.**

#### Introduced in Season Seven

* **Red Claw Prime** is the leader of an international terrorist organization named “Red Claw”.

#### Introduced in Season Nine

* **Lady Shiva/Sandra Wu-San** is a martial artist and a former student of master Kirigi.
* **Poison Ivy/Dr. Pamela Isley** is an intern at “GothCorp”.

## Trivia

### General

* This is an original fan-made superhero TV show.
* It would have meant to last 15 seasons max, each consisting of 12 episodes.
* The major inspirations for the show overall are:
	+ *Gotham* (2014-2019)
	+ *Batman: The Animated Series* (1992-1995)
	+ *Marvel's Daredevil* (2015-2018)

* The first season, which would explore the beginnings of both Batman and James Gordon, is based on 3 popular Batman origin comic books:
	+ “Year One” by Frank Miller
	+ “Zero Year” by Scott Snyder & James Tynion IV
	+ “Earth One” by Geoff Johns

* Due to his poor contributions to the current DC Cinematic Universe, Geoff Johns and his work would have remained uncredited as an inspiration for the show.
* The show would explore the history of a majority of characters from the Batman mythos, including those, who appeared in *David Ayer's Suicide Squad*.
* Certain characters have eventually been cut from the show, including: Roman Sionis/Black Mask, Victor Zsasz, Alberto Falcone, etc. These cuts aren't meant to preserve the continuity of the current DC Cinematic Universe, but rather for the creator to distance the show from vastly inferior implementations of otherwise great comic book characters.
* Batman would have meant to be the first ever masked crime fighter in the DCEU, with nobody preceding him.
* The subtitle was eventually used for a *~~TV show~~* produced by the CW network, as well as the video-game developed by Warner Bros. Montreal; the whole title was used for a tie-in comic book to the game.

### The DCEU Lore

* Thomas and Martha Wayne were both gunned down in 1981, after they've watched the premiere of the movie *Excalibur* in the Aragon Theatre with Bruce.
* The events of *Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice* take please during the year 2015.
* According to Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne, he has been operating as Batman for 20 years, which means he started being the vigilante in 1995.
* According to Zack Snyder, Bruce Wayne was 25 years old when he started operating as Batman, similar to how it was in “Batman: Year One” comic book.
	+ However, the timeline doesn't exactly make sense, since in 1995 Bruce would have been only 23 years old.