Details on a GOTHAM TV Series We'll Never See
Art by Enzoe35
I very much enjoy the current Batman prequel series Gotham. I think the creative team has done a great job with it, and I'm looking forward to seeing the story continue. It turns out there was another TV series in development with the same title back in 2013, and at this point it's obvious that it will never go into development.
The series was being developed by Harry Locke IV, who spent the majority of 2013 fine tuning his idea, so that he could pitch it to Warner Bros. The treatment for this series may have carried the same name as the current show, and played with the same concept, but it would have been very different.
One of the things that he envisioned for the project was that it would have been the first “live-action DC Comics/ Warner Bros. property to make an active and conscious effort to begin the unification of the companies’ massive properties into a shared universe." He goes on to explain:
"While Gotham is home to The Dark Knight, the show’s divergence from individualization to a focus on the expansive universe at hand allows a number of characters previously unseen in live-action adaptation form to be introduced either as cameo or regular appearances. An asset that could prove extremely beneficial for tie-ins with new comic book IPs, motion picture releases, etc, while also posing the possibility to introduce new characters that may generate enough interest to become regulars in the overall DC Comics lore and legend."
At first the plan was to self-finance the project and release it as a fan series on YouTube. But his producing partners thought the idea was so good and unique that they wanted to take it straight to WB. They were getting everything into place to take it to the studio, and even attached the showrunner of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, to help bring it to life. Before they were able to pitch the meeting though WB announced the Gotham series that is currently airing.
I've gotta say, that must have been freakin' devastating! Locke says, "The lesson learned from all of this, was that good things do not always come to those who wait." But he has now released his full treatment of the series online for you to check out, to see what could have been.
I would have loved to see this vision brought to life. There are elements here that I really like that we aren't seeing in the current series. I've included the first part of his treatment below, which includes the synopsis. But make sure to click here to read about the characters that would have been included in the series:
G O T H A M
TREATMENT PACKAGE
AUTHORED BY
HARRY LOCKE IV
CODE 10
WE ARE EACH OUR OWN DEVIL
AND WE MAKE THIS WORLD OUR HELL
– OSCAR WILDE
Logline: The home of the Dark Knight viewed through the eyes of its citizen’s greatest threat…themselves.
Synopsis: A world asphyxiating on its own blood and moral depravity, GOTHAM thrusts us into a community at its breaking point, barreling headlong into urban warfare with the
greatest gallery of rogues known to man smelling blood in the water. Winter is upon the dark city, and its citizens are being ushered towards an inevitable confrontation against a most vicious threat… their own sins.
Olivia Sage, a struggling 21-year-old college physics student, reluctantly returns home to Gotham City following the grisly murder of her younger sister. Amidst mourning her death and tending a frayed relationship with her father, she finds the sprawling megalopolis quickly becoming engulfed by a powerful new hallucinogenic derived from Joker Venom. The drug spreads rapidly from the city’s underbelly and into its mainstream consciousness, igniting urban warfare in its wake, and exposing a corrupt political façade teetering on the edge of collapse.
GOTHAM seeks to bring forth the creation of an episodic fiction series that explores the famed city of DC Comics through an unfamiliar perspective, the lives of its very inhabitants. For over 50 years, fans around the world have made countless trips to a nightmare built from stone and metal, witnessing the world’s most revered heroes and despised villains engage in colossal warfare. However, these stories have often utilized Gotham City as a backdrop to the action, viewing the city on a macro level to the trials and tribulations survived by its patron guardian… until now. GOTHAM takes us into the city deeper than ever before, bringing specific focus to the unknown inhabitants that make the city come to life, and offering a glimpse at daily survival under the constant threat of super-villains, inexplicable supernatural occurrences, and the looming presence of an unpredictable entity known only as The Batman.