It feels like years since we've been introduced to the character of Jerome in Gotham, and he's been called the "proto-Joker" of sorts by the showrunners. As it turns out, the show isn't allowed to call him Joker at all, and they aren't even allowed to use the character's likeness.
Jerome/Jeremiah actor Cameron Monaghan confirmed it himself:
Gotham isn't the only case where a character is banned to appear since they are being planned for movies. Deathstroke was originally introduced in Arrow, but he was then pulled out because the DCEU introduced us to Joe Manganiello's Deathstroke in Justice League.
Gotham producer John Stephens has also told IGN that Jerome is just there to influence an offscreen Joker who will turn out to be Batman's main antagonist. He says:
"The other characters are who they are. Mad Hatter, Scarecrow, etcetera. But no, he isn't the Joker. What we've always gone with is that Joker is somewhere out there, anonymous and unformed, in Gotham, and he's watching the actions of Jeremiah and Jerome and possibly even another one, on his way somewhere down the line, and he's adopting them as inspirations as the person he'll one day become."
Though Gotham has generally mixed reviews by audiences, a lot of people have been singing their praises to Cameron Monaghan's Jerome. Hopefully this show will manage to bring us a ‘proper' Joker, and not give us some weird reason like, "There's a third sibling with a name that starts with ‘J'."
Gotham 4 ends May 17 on FOX.
See Also: What Morena Baccarin Could Look Like as Catwoman
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