‘Gotham’ Confirms Joker’s ‘Pre-Embryonic’ Origin in Early Season 2, Sigh

Joker fans can’t get enough of charting every facet of Jared Leto‘s transformation into the Clown Prince of Crime for David Ayer’s Suicide Squad, but what of Gotham’s take on Batman’s most famous foe? Rest assured, lone fan of Gotham, we’ll get a more formal Joker origin story early on in Season 2 this fall.

So says showrunner Bruno Heller, who utilized the same groanworthy language as Dick Grayson’s “prenatal origin story” in an interview with ComicBook.com. Heller spoke of a “pre-embryonic” introduction to the character, despite Shameless star Cameron Monaghan appearing this past season as “Jerome,” a murderous circus child a few skin shades shy of a full-on Joker.

You’re not going to see teases of The Joker before the end of the season, because the beginning of Season Two is a big Joker-oriented, or ‘how the Joker came to be’ kind of story. The beginning of Season Two is the very earliest origins of how The Joker came to be.

Elsewhere, we know of Gotham Season 2 that producers will to incorporate such Bat-baddies as Clayface, the Mad Hatter, Mr. Freeze, Hugo Strange, Tommy Elliot, and potentially even the Court of Owls. Season 2 will also feature Bruce crafting his more public billionaire persona for use later in his Bat-career, while still continually investigating his parents’ murder, while Jada Pinkett’s Fish Mooney will leave the series.

Subtlety isn’t exactly in Gotham‘s wheelhouse, but will our “pre-embryonic” (shudder) Joker origin story in Season 2 be any different from what we’ve seen of Cameron Monaghan’s Jerome? Does Gotham intend to leave any Bat-mythology for a third season, let alone future years?