Though we’ll unfortunately have to wait until 2019 for Gotham‘s fifth and final season to premiere, we’ve already been teased a generous amount regarding what the final leg of the journey has in store. To date, it’s been said Bruce Wayne will take up the mantle of Batman in the end, in addition to villains such as Scarface and Mother showing up.
Still, none of us can help but wonder what the future holds for some of the baddies who’ve stuck around since the very first season. Chief among them is that of Robin Lord Taylor’s Oswald Cobblepot, whom we’ve been able to follow from his days as Fish Mooney’s lapdog all the way to his emergence as one of the most formidable crime bosses the city has ever seen, that being the Penguin.
But in light of the events witnessed in the season finale, “A Dark Knight: No Man’s Land,” it stands to reason that Oswald will have to adapt to the new landscape as villains vie for control of the wrecked metropolis. Oddly enough, Taylor teased a more altruistic role for his character in season 5 while speaking at Heroes and Villains Fan Fest in Nashville:
“Oswald will always be directly opposed to Jeremiah, because Oswald cannot exits without order, without structure. Because, and we touch on this lesson a lot in this show and in this season, if you destroy it there is nothing to lead, there’s nothing to be in control of. So Oswald is going to be always directly opposed to anything Jeremiah does because Oswald wants to rebuild this city in his own image, and Jeremiah just wants chaos. The two of them, it’s like oil and water, it will never mix. So hopefully Oswald, I feel like he will be angling to reestablish control and I think, even in a way, he will become somewhat more of a protagonist.”
To be honest, I think Cobblepot will return to a life of crime once things settle down. But his love for the city is undeniable – even if he and Jim Gordon have different ways of approaching order, a notion not lost on the actor:
“He and James Gordon are two sides of the same coin, they both desire control and structure. James wants to go about it one way, Oswald the other way. But ultimately their end goal is the same thing. So, hopefully I would like to see some struggle with that between the two characters.”
How this ultimately pans out remains to be seen, but knowing how Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s Zero Year will serve as inspiration for Gotham season 5, well, it’s probably safe to say things will get worse before they get better.
