GOTHAM Finds Its Young Bruce Wayne And Selina Kyle


We’ve already got the adults cast for the Fox’s Batman prequel Gotham, so now its time to bring some of the kiddies on board. After all, Gotham City seems like a great place to raise your kids, right? Actually, I probably shouldn’t have brought up parents around these newcomers.

It’s been announced that David Mazouz and Camren Bicondova will play Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle respectively. After losing his parents at a young age, Bruce is described as “serious and soulful” and needing the protection of his butler Alfred Pennyworth and GCPD officer James Gordon. At least Bruce still has family money, though. On the other end of the spectrum, Kyle is a “teenage orphan, street thief and skilled pickpocket who is suspicious and wholly unpredictable.” Sounds like this is a girl who knows how to take care of herself.

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Mazouz and Bicondova round out the main cast comprised of Ben McKenzie, Robin Lord Taylor, Sean Pertwee, Zabryna Guevara, Erin Richards, Donal Logue and Jada Pinkett Smith. It was also announced yesterday that Drew Brown would guest star/recur as the second-in-command to Fish Mooney (Smith’s character). Gotham will explore the origins of Wayne, Gordon, and many of Batman’s rogues gallery. Penguin (Taylor) and Selina Kyle were two of the specific villains originally mentioned to be appearing, along with Joker and Riddler.

Selina is one of the few Batman “villains” (I’ve always thought of her as more of an antihero) I think is acceptable for appearing within Gotham. I was cool with Penguin showing up since he’s usually depicted as being older than Batman, and Batman and Catwoman have a close enough relationship that I would have been surprised if she hadn’t shown up. However, that’s where it ends for me. I’m not interested in seeing a teenage Joker killing small animals or a preteen Riddler being bullied because he likes to work on crossword puzzles. We already know they’re not going to develop their gimmicks until Batman shows up, so what’s the point in seeing them at all? The show better come up with interesting concepts for them to ease my concerns on that front.

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While my Batman knowledge is vast, I can’t remember if there’s been a story where Bruce and Selina met each other while they were kids. The earliest meeting I can recollect is when Bruce/Batman encountered Selina/Catwoman during one of his first patrols. Assuming this show’s on the air for a few seasons, the two of them will likely run into each other. It would be interesting to see the contrasting lifestyles between them: Bruce has a vast support structure to help him while Selina is forced to fend for herself in order to survive. However, I doubt Alfred will let Bruce hang out with her for long. Mustn’t let a Wayne mingle with the common people for too long.

I do wonder whether the show will veer from the source material and have the two of them develop a close relationship in their younger years. Perhaps by the end of the show, Selina will know about Bruce becoming Batman and vice-versa. While this would certainly shake things up, it also takes away from the flirty relationship they had when they didn’t know each other’s secret identities, or at least Selina not knowing who Bruce is. That’s part of the fun of Batman and Catwoman together.

Robin's such a third wheel.

Robin’s such a third wheel.

SOURCE: The Wrap