{"id":26270,"date":"2014-09-18T20:56:04","date_gmt":"2014-09-18T12:56:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=26270"},"modified":"2014-09-18T19:38:58","modified_gmt":"2014-09-18T11:38:58","slug":"gotham-star-mckenzie-says-show-is-more-than-batman-without-batman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/09\/18\/gotham-star-mckenzie-says-show-is-more-than-batman-without-batman\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Gotham\u2019 star McKenzie says show is more than \u2018Batman without Batman\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The backdrop for Gotham City used in the show. Photo by vagueonthehow<\/a> \/ Flickr.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

TORONTO\u2014A one-sentence summary of the gloomy new comic book-based series \u201cGotham\u201d doubles as its chief criticism: it\u2019s Batman without Batman.<\/p>\n

Star Ben McKenzie knows this. He\u2019s the show\u2019s fulcrum, portraying a young Commissioner Jim Gordon when he\u2019s still just a detective paddling in seeming futility against a tide of crime and corruption. The show kicks off with Bruce Wayne still a child, about to endure the formative horror of seeing his parents murdered in front of him.<\/p>\n

When the show was first announced, \u201cSimpsons\u201d writer Mike Scully tidily summed up the skepticism of many onlookers when he tweeted: \u201cCan\u2019t wait to see \u2018Gotham\u2019 to learn how Officer Gordon became Commissioner Gordon. Hoping for lots of test-taking and waiting for scores.\u201d<\/p>\n

McKenzie was actually among the 600-plus who retweeted the quip, and\u2014as he journeyed to Canada in the spring to promote the show\u2014his eyes lit up when reminded of it. But of course, he disagrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand the reflex of \u2018Batman show without Batman,\u201d\u2018 said the chatty Texan, best-known for starring roles on \u201cThe O.C.\u201d and \u201cSouthland.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think there\u2019s so many people who are really, really fans of the entire universe that surrounds Batman. I mean, do you go to the movies and see the (Christopher) Nolan versions only for Christian Bale\u2019s performance as Batman? No. Of course not. You go to see all of these other characters, right?<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand the criticism,\u201d he continued, \u201cbut my short answer is: \u2018Just watch it.\u2019 If you don\u2019t like it, don\u2019t keep watching it, but I\u2019m really proud of the pilot we\u2019ve made. … I think people who are fans of this are, for the most part, going to lose their minds.\u201d<\/p>\n

For those devotees of the 75-year-old DC Comics franchise, McKenzie promises that \u201cGotham\u201d will showcase the rogues gallery of freaks Batman eventually goes on to fight, in variously fledgling states of villainy.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll learn more about Wayne, too. And McKenzie\u2019s vision for the show\u2019s eventual end would see a finally grown Wayne slip on the cape and cowl for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201c(That\u2019s) hopefully a long time from now,\u201d said McKenzie, rapping his knuckles on the wooden table to keep his karma straight.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s confident about the show\u2019s fortunes, and he\u2019s not alone\u2014given the show\u2019s blockbuster ties, it was earmarked early as a possible fall breakout.<\/p>\n

Of course, \u201cMarvel\u2019s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.\u201d failed to completely ignite despite similarly lucrative associations. But that show featured a cast of characters almost totally new to viewers, whereas McKenzie stresses the familiarity of the \u201cGotham\u201d universe.<\/p>\n

Well, to most people. The 35-year-old actor, a University of Virginia graduate and nephew to Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan, notes with bemused wonder that he was given focus-group data in which a third of those polled hadn\u2019t heard of Batman.<\/p>\n

\u201cLord knows where they pull these people from,\u201d he marvelled. \u201cThat can\u2019t possibly be. Now that I\u2019m a part of it, I walk around, you go to the mall, you see people in Batman shirts, just walking around.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just entered the lexicon. It\u2019s entered the never-ending zeitgeist.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGotham\u201d isn\u2019t McKenzie\u2019s first entrypoint into the Batman universe. He actually voiced the avenging orphan in the animated film \u201cBatman: Year One,\u201d which also showcased the talents of Bryan Cranston\u2014who just won a Tony Award for his performance in \u201cAll the Way,\u201d a play, McKenzie points out, written by his uncle).<\/p>\n

Growing up, McKenzie and his brother used to watch the arch, richly cheesy Adam West-starred \u201860s \u201cBatman\u201d every afternoon. And he loves Nolan\u2019s bleak, coffee-black cinematic take, in which intense Oscar nominee Gary Oldman inhabited the role of the noble police chief.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone tweeted me that it\u2019s so cool you\u2019ll grow up and be Gary Oldman,\u201d McKenzie recalled. \u201cI was like, \u2018Sadly, I don\u2019t think that\u2019s how it works.\u201d\u2018<\/p>\n

When he was first cast, McKenzie took DC Comics\u2019 Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns out to lunch. He quizzed Johns\u2014also an acclaimed comic-book writer who\u2019s penned episodes of \u201cSmallville\u201d and \u201cArrow\u201d\u2014on the best approach to the role.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the lunch I was trying to get into whether he had any advice,\u201d McKenzie remembered. \u201cAnd he was like, \u2018You have to interpret it for yourself.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what every artist has done throughout the 75 years of Batman. … This has been, in some senses, an enterprise that\u2019s constantly being reinvented by every single person who takes on the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the only obligation is to do the best job you can and let the chips fall where they may.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TORONTO\u2014A one-sentence summary of the gloomy new comic book-based series \u201cGotham\u201d doubles as its chief criticism: it\u2019s Batman without Batman. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":26271,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hollywood","mauthors-nick-patch","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26270\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}