While Gotham certainly hasn’t shied way from utilizing familiar villains such as the Penguin, Riddler and Mr. Freeze, I’ve found it quite refreshing to see them embrace those newer to the mythos like the Court of Owls. And while we’re certainly excited to see whatever a fully realized Scarecrow has in store for the GCPD this fall, it’s hard not to squeal upon hearing that Professor Pyg will be showing up as well.
Yes, the very same guy who once gave Robin a lap dance in the comics will soon be introduced on the Batman prequel series. Originally created by Grant Morrison about a decade ago, the absolutely insane Lazlo Valentin went on to play a huge role in the books, especially during the days when Dick Grayson took up cape and cowl in the absence of Bruce Wayne. Suffice it to say, he’s become one of my favorite newer villains, ranking up there with Hush.
When speaking with Screen Rant, executive producer John Stephens expressed a similar love:
“For this year we’re bringing in one of my favorite newer villains. This might be the first time I’m saying this… because we’re bringing in Professor Pyg this year. And I’ve always loved Pyg because he’s just so demented and strange and gross and terrifying and funny. So, this year, I was like ‘Well, our show is pretty violent and graphic, how can it get more violent and graphic?’ I think Pyg is, maybe because he’s a newer character, feels more current to me in some ways. He doesn’t have some of the baggage of like a character from the ’60s might have where you have to like revitalize in a way. Pyg you can just bring in and he scares everybody.”
Knowing how Gotham has gotten away with a lot for a network television show, it should be the right forum to pull off a version of Pyg more accurate to the source material. In the past, he recurred on Beware the Batman, but seeing as how that was an animated series aired on Cartoon Network, some changes were obviously made. Still, we fully expect to see something as genuinely disturbing as what was offered in the video game Batman: Arkham Knight, only this time in the live-action realm.
Gotham returns for its fourth season on Thursday, September 28 on Fox.
