Instead of a DC Cinematic Universe, What about a Gotham one?

By this point I would assume anyone on a fanboy website will have seen the new Batman v Superman Dawn of Justice trailer at least twice.  While it doesn’t look bad, it looks quite a bit like the early Man of Steel trailers.  While fans disagree how good or bad that film was, most people left the theater a trifle disappointed.  Zack Snyder gets some great shots in all his films without a doubt, however his overall product generally feels overly stylized to the point of distraction.  The trailer got me thinking though about what I would prefer to see with Batman is a more supporting role, a Gotham Cinematic Universe.

In full disclosure I am a Marvel over DC guy.  However I read more Batman/Batman family titles than anything else.  I find Fox’s Gotham wholly underwhelming and it remains just good enough to keep me coming back.  But there is so much potential in Gotham for great stories.  Better yet for studios a Gotham cinematic universe could cost significantly less per picture  than a Wonder Woman or Aquaman.  While there is huge potential in those characters, I can’t imagine quality versions being pulled off very cheaply.

Imagine if you will a Gotham picture that is more like Sin City than anything else.  Vivid characters in an interwoven story where none can claim to be the star.  A movie where Batman is treated like Jaws from the first flick, and each time he appears it is powerful.  The supporting players from Gotham are incredibly deep, not just in roster but character arc.  An initial film could have Helena Rosa Bertinelli’s family being massacred, yet she is not quite the Huntress yet.  Selina Kyle could ascend to power over the mob much as she does in Genevieve Valentine’s current take while laying the groundwork for Rene Montoya to become the question all while Gordon becomes the commissioner.  The villains could go darker without the risk of a big budget and needing to appeal to a larger audience.  I always liked Abbatoir and with the Etchinson family connected to the upper echelons of Gotham there is great potential for multi-leveled conflict.  Or maybe Edward Enigma as a private eye and Killer Croc as a mob enforcer with some heavy horror elements.  Gotham is ripe for multi-layered story telling and while it may never come to pass, interconnected Gotham flicks iswhat I would rather than a series of Aquaman movies.

 M.R. Gott is an incredibly small press horror author with a seriously nerdy streak.