The Gotham franchise is a media franchise and shared fictional universe that is the setting of television series, novels, and comic book series developed by Bruno Heller and Danny Cannon, produced by DC Entertainment and based on characters that appear in DC Comics publications. The franchise began with the American crime television series Gotham, based on characters (primarily James "Jim" Gordon and Bruce Wayne / Batman) appearing in DC's Batman franchise.
Gotham, starring Ben McKenzie as a young Gordon, premiered in the United States on September 22, 2014 on the Fox television network and concluded on April 25, 2019 after five seasons. Heller and Cannon next developed Pennyworth, a spin-off prequel series to Gotham starring Jack Bannon as a younger incarnation of Gothams Alfred Pennyworth. Pennyworth aired for two seasons on Epix from July 28, 2019 to April 11, 2021. A third season, also loosely adapting V for Vendetta, aired on HBO Max from October 6 to November 24, 2022.
As originally conceived, Gotham would have served as a straightforward story of Gordon's early days on the Gotham City Police Department. The idea eventually evolved to not only include Wayne's "transformation" into Batman but also to explore the origin stories of several of his villains such as Penguin, Riddler, and Catwoman. Pennyworth similarly explores Pennyworth's early life during the British Civil War, as he and Americans Thomas Wayne and Martha Kane seek to prevent the fascist Raven Society from overtaking the British government.
In addition to directly adapted characters from DC Comics, many other characters in the show are based on, inspired by, or otherwise references to preexisting characters (though they may not be identical to these original sources).
Overview = Main cast (credited) = Recurring cast (4+) = Guest cast (1–3)
Main characters Character Portrayed by Gotham Pennyworth 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 Main characters Lt. / Captain / Commissioner James "Jim" Gordon Ben McKenzie colspan="5" colspan="3" Lt. Harvey Bullock Donal Logue colspan="5" colspan="3" Bruce Wayne / The Dark Knight David Mazouz colspan="5" colspan="3" Subject 514A / "Bruce Wayne" colspan="2" colspan="5" Captain Sarah Essen Zabryna Guevara colspan="2" colspan="6" Alfred Pennyworth Sean Pertwee colspan="5" colspan="3" Jack Bannon colspan="5" colspan="3" Oswald Cobblepot / The Penguin Robin Lord Taylor colspan="5" colspan="3" Barbara Kean Erin Richards colspan="5" colspan="3" Selina Kyle / Cat / Catwoman Camren Bicondova colspan="5" colspan="3" Lili Simmons colspan="4" colspan="3" Edward "Ed" Nygma / The Riddler Cory Michael Smith colspan="5" colspan="3" Renee Montoya Victoria Cartagena colspan="7" Crispus Allen Andrew Stewart-Jones colspan="7" Carmine Falcone John Doman colspan="4" Fish Mooney Jada Pinkett Smith colspan="5" Leslie "Lee" Thompkins Morena Baccarin colspan="4" colspan="3" Theo Galavan / Azrael James Frain colspan="2" colspan="3" Tabitha Galavan / Tigress Jessica Lucas colspan="4" colspan="3" Lucius Fox Chris Chalk colspan="4" colspan="3" Simon Manyonda colspan="6" Cyrus Gold / Butch Gilzean / Solomon Grundy Drew Powell colspan="3" colspan="4" Harvey Dent Nicholas D'Agosto colspan="6" Nathaniel Barnes / The Executioner Michael Chiklis colspan="2" colspan="5" Basil Karlo / Virginia Devereaux / Clayface Ben McKenzie colspan="6" Brian McManamon colspan="2" colspan="5" Paul Reubens colspan="2" colspan="5" Lorraine Burroughs colspan="7" Ivy "Pamela" Pepper / Poison Ivy Clare Foley colspan="3" colspan="4" Maggie Geha colspan="2" colspan="4" Peyton List colspan="3" colspan="5" Jervis Tetch / Mad Hatter Benedict Samuel colspan="2" colspan="3" Sofia Falcone Crystal Reed colspan="3" colspan="4" Ra's al Ghul Alexander Siddig colspan="2" colspan="4" Jerome Valeska Cameron Monaghan colspan="3" colspan="4" Jeremiah Valeska / "J" colspan="3" colspan="2" colspan="3" Eduardo Dorrance / Bane Shane West colspan="4" colspan="3" Nyssa al Ghul / Theresa Walker Jaime Murray colspan="4" colspan="3" Thomas Wayne Grayson McCouch colspan="3" colspan="3" Ben Aldridge colspan="5" colspan="3" Martha Wayne (née Kane) Brette Taylor colspan="3" colspan="3" Emma Paetz colspan="5" colspan="3" Deon "Bazza" Bashford Hainsley Lloyd Bennett colspan="5" colspan="2" Wallace "Daveboy" McDougal Ryan Fletcher colspan="5" colspan="3" Mary Pennyworth Dorothy Atkinson colspan="5" colspan="3" Arthur Pennyworth Ian Puleston-Davies colspan="5" colspan="2" Bet Sykes Paloma Faith colspan="5" colspan="3" Margaret "Peggy" Sykes Polly Walker colspan="5" colspan="3" Lord James Harwood Jason Flemyng colspan="5" colspan="2" The Queen of England Jessica Ellerby colspan="5" colspan="2" John Ripper / The Ripper Danny Webb colspan="5" colspan="2" Detective Inspector / Prime Minister Victor Aziz Ramon Tikaram colspan="5" colspan="2" Sandra Onslow Harriet Slater colspan="5" colspan="2" Colonel John Salt Edward Hogg colspan="6" Katie Browning Jessye Romeo colspan="6" Captain Gulliver "Gully" Troy / Captain Blighty James Purefoy colspan="6" colspan="2" #Jason Lennon / Jason Skolimski / The Ogre Milo Ventimiglia colspan="1" colspan="8"
Recurring characters Character Portrayed by Gotham Pennyworth 1 2 3 4 5 Aubrey James Richard Kind colspan="2" colspan="3" Gertrude Kapelput Carol Kane colspan="2" colspan="6" Sal Maroni David Zayas colspan="7" Jennifer Luree Krista Braun colspan="3" colspan="3" Alvarez J.W. Cortes colspan="5" colspan="3" Liza Makenzie Leigh colspan="7" Kristen Kringle Chelsea Spack colspan="2" colspan="3" Isabella colspan="2" colspan="3" Gabe Alex Corrado colspan="3" colspan="3" Victor Zsasz Anthony Carrigan colspan="2" colspan="2" Commissioner Loeb Peter Scolari colspan="4" Reginald "Reggie" Payne David O'Hara colspan="5" James Lewis colspan="5" Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow Charlie Tahan colspan="2" colspan="4" David W. Thompson colspan="3" colspan="3" Hugo Strange BD Wong colspan="2" colspan="3" Victor Fries / Mr. Freeze Nathan Darrow colspan="4" Ethel Peabody Tonya Pinkins colspan="5" Bridgit Pike / Firefly Michelle Veintimilla colspan="4" Camila Perez colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="4" Aaron Helzinger Stink Fisher colspan="6" Sal Martinez Lucas Salvagno colspan="6" Carl Pinkney Ian Quinlan colspan="6" Silver St. Cloud Natalie Alyn Lind colspan="6" Father Creel Ron Rifkin colspan="6" Kathryn Monroe Kit Flanagan colspan="6" Leslie Hendrix colspan="2" colspan="5" Mario Falcone James Carpinello colspan="2" colspan="5" Valerie Vale Jamie Chung colspan="2" colspan="5" Campos Flora Diaz colspan="2" colspan="5" Shaman / Sensei Raymond J. Barry colspan="2" colspan="5" Arthur Penn / Ventriloquist Andrew Sellon colspan="3" colspan="2" colspan="3" Vanessa Harper Kelcy Griffin colspan="3" colspan="2" colspan="3" Lazlo Valentin / Professor Pyg Michael Cerveris colspan="3" colspan="3" Lelia Shiva Kalaiselvan colspan="3" colspan="3" Cherry Marina Benedict colspan="3" colspan="4" Martin Christopher Convery colspan="3" colspan="4" Ecco Francesca Root-Dodson colspan="3" colspan="3"
Main characters James Gordon
James "Jim" Gordon (portrayed by Ben McKenzie; seasons 1–5) is a war veteran and homicide detective at the Gotham City Police Department in its 1st Grade working to find the man who killed Bruce Wayne's parents and battling the corruption of Gotham City's Police Department. His father was Gotham City's District Attorney before his death in a car accident when Gordon was 13 years old.
Fox began to develop a TV series centered on James Gordon's early days as a police detective and the origin stories of various Batman villains in September 2013. McKenzie was cast as the lead character. When describing his character in an interview, McKenzie stated that Gordon "is a truly honest man. The last honest man in a city full of crooked people. He's not an anti-hero, he's a true hero—but he will have to compromise". McKenzie did not audition for the role. Heller, with whom he had worked before, wrote the role for McKenzie, who described the character as "an old-fashioned hero in an age of anti-heroes. A throwback. Jim's a lawman, that restricts him in some ways. But also means he can become powerful within the system and change things for the better". In the show, Gordon is assigned to investigate the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne, with Bruce being the surviving witness. During the first season, he is assigned with a new partner, Harvey Bullock, serving also to police captain Sarah Essen. In addition to the Wayne's murder case, Gordon solves various cases in Gotham, some of them which are connected to the powerful mob figures, like Fish Mooney, Carmine Falcone and Sal Maroni. Jim also fights against corruption in the GCPD, like the police commissioner Gillian B. Loeb and Narcotics Officer Arnold Flass. To better fight against criminals and corrupt cops, Gordon gets allies such as police detectives Renee Montoya and Crispus Allen and District Attorney Harvey Dent. Gordon soon becomes reluctant ally to a criminal named Oswald Cobblepot, often calling him for the favor in some cases. He also meets a small street thief Selina Kyle, who reluctantly helps him regarding the Wayne murders. At one point, when he is assigned to Arkham Asylum, he meets physician Leslie Thompkins who works in the female ward, later working as a medical examiner in GCPD. Gordon later falls in love with her; he was previously in a relationship with Barbara Kean, but due to his police duty and her life being put in danger by crime families, he advised her to temporarily leave him until they meet again. When Barbara sees Gordon and Leslie together, she becomes heartbroken and later psychotic. When the gang war reaches its climax, Gordon and Bullock attempt to save Carmine Falcone. He, Falcone, Oswald and Butch Gilzean are captured by Fish Mooney and her gang. When Sal Maroni advises her to join, calling her "babe", she shoots him. Gordon manages to end gang war, but Cobblepot kills Fish Mooney in her apparent death when she falls in the river, becoming a new king of Gotham.