The Batman Gotham PD Spinoff Is About Jim Gordon

Gotham PD will center around one of the city's most iconic police officers - Jim Gordon. A spinoff of 2022's upcoming Robert Pattinson starrer The Batman, little is known about what's in store for the series. Said to center the "anatomy of corruption" in Gotham City, the series will debut sometime in 2022 on HBO Max, likely after the debut of its film counterpart, currently slated for release on March 4. Terrence Winter, producer of The Sopranos, initially came onboard as showrunner for the series, but exited in late 2020.

Joe Barton was brought in to replace Winter and new details about the show have slowly begun to emerge. Gotham PD will center on a corrupt officer in the force and the "battle for his soul" during the first year of Batman's crimefighting. The Batman will take place during year two of Bruce Wayne's time as the Caped Crusader, with Gotham PD acting as a prequel of sorts that could lay the groundwork for future projects in the Pattinson-led Batman universe.

Director and noted fanboy Kevin Smith reached out to a producer who works for Matt Reeves, director of The Batman, for details about the show. Smith asked if they were making a Gotham Central show and the producer said that that wasn't the case for Gotham PD. The producer did say, however, that the show will act as a spinoff from the film and be centered around the character of Jim Gordon.

    I was like ‘maybe they’re really going to make Gotham Central this time,’ and so I reached out to a producer who works for Matt Reeves and he says, ‘no, that’s not really Gotham Central. They’re making sure that they don’t call it Gotham Central and it’s more of a spinoff from the movie. It’s like the James Gordon show.

It is unclear if Jeffrey Wright, who will play Jim Gordon in The Batman, will be making an appearance in the series or if the corrupt police officer at its center could actually be Jim Gordon. How much Gotham PD will factor into the larger Batman universe centered around Pattinson's take on the character remains a mystery, but it's clear that with the series moving forward, Warner Bros. is hoping to develop a vast new Gotham that will serve multiple branches of its content output.

Barton has made it clear that the series is wholly about corruption, telling a fan on Twitter that, in the series, there are "no good cops," which is in line with what fans know about the Gotham police department from its various depictions in film and television. Another series, Gotham, aired on Fox and featured Ben McKenzie as Jim Gordon before bowing in 2019 after five seasons. Gotham PD will have to make sure to differentiate itself from the other series and films that have already depicted the department, but with Reeves' unique vision already set to take Batman in new directions, Barton should be able to find new and exciting ways to tell Jim Gordon's story.