As a devoted fan who has spent countless hours immersed in the dark yet captivating world of Gotham, I must say that the series finale left me with a bittersweet feeling. While it was thrilling to finally see David Mazouz’s portrayal of Batman, the way the Batsuit was handled felt like an anticlimax.
Despite playing Bruce Wayne throughout all five seasons of the TV series “Gotham”, fans didn’t see David Mazouz’s portrayal of Batman in his suit until the very last moments. The final episode, titled “The Beginning…”, never explicitly mentioned Batman, and the closest reference was when Robin Lord Taylor’s character, the Penguin, called his new enemy a “man dressed like a bat.” The main concern for “Gotham” executive producer John Stephens regarding Batman’s long-awaited appearance was the way the Batsuit was managed, which he found to be quite frustrating.
In an oral history piece by IGN for the 10th anniversary of Gotham’s debut, Stephen and Mazouz shared memories from behind the scenes. It was revealed that Mazouz never physically wore the Batman suit in the final episode; instead, his face was digitally placed over a stunt double who donned the costume. During their discussion about Gotham’s series finale, Stephen mentioned the challenges they encountered with the Batsuit.
You know, I haven’t gone back to rewatch it, literally, since I watched it on air… The frustrating thing was, we couldn’t use any of the other suits. There were all these suits out there. I feel like some other TV shows had made use of some of the suits from the movies, [but] they were all off limits to us, so we had to build our own suit. And those suits are incredibly expensive. So that was very frustrating, but [costume designer] John Glaser did a great job. It would have been easier if [we had] been able to modify an existing suit rather than having to build it from scratch.
It’s clear that having access to a Batsuit worn by actors like Michael Keaton or Christian Bale would have made things significantly easier for the production team of Gotham. This is because, despite David Mazouz’s Batman battling villains such as Penguin, Riddler, and Jeremiah Valeska throughout the series finale, his costume was never fully revealed until the very last scene. The Batsuit only needed to be properly shown in the final shot when Bruce, dressed as Batman, was standing on a rooftop looking down at James Gordon, Alfred Pennyworth, and Harvey Bullock on top of GCPD headquarters. Since the actor would have been stationary during filming, there would have been no risk of damaging an existing Batsuit.
It turned out that scenario wasn’t feasible, and John Stephens highlighted the fact that designing a new Batsuit wasn’t an inexpensive venture. David Mazouz echoed this sentiment, but he also mentioned that there was one advantage to crafting a Batsuit exclusively for the show Gotham. As the actor reminisced:
In that one instance, they were extremely cautious about the suit, for it turned out to be quite expensive. I recall later discovering it in real life at the San Diego Museum, where it was part of a Batman exhibition featuring numerous suits. Remarkably, my Batsuit was displayed alongside its fellow Bat-suits.
Since the creators of the series Gotham originally planned for it to conclude with Batman’s debut, fans have been left wondering about the adventures of this particular Bruce Wayne. However, it’s not hard to see a live-action Batman striking terror into the hearts of wrongdoers, as demonstrated by Robert Pattinson in The Batman. He will also reprise his role in the 2026 film, The Batman: Part II. Moreover, the DC Universe’s Batman is set to make an appearance in The Brave and the Bold, where he will team up with his son, Damian, who fights crime alongside him as Robin.
Should you be keen on checking out Gotham again or even catching it for the very first time, just having a Max subscription will allow you to stream its full five seasons. If, however, you’re not ready for that yet, keep an eye on TopMob for updates on future DC movies and TV shows instead.
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2024-09-26 16:37