In news we are all regrettably several days late to making a “Welcome to Gotham, bitch” joke out of, then heading to TJ for some much-needed relaxation, Ben McKenzie was cast over the weekend as the young Jim Gordon in Fox’s Gotham. As previously reported, Gotham will find the rookie detective patrolling the world’s roughest, non-beachfront city as it’s besieged by classic Batman villains like the Joker, the Riddler, the Penguin, and Catwoman—but back when they were just starting out, and swept up in the hormonal rage and petty rivalries that entangle us all when we’re just beginning our supervillain lives. Also, a very young, very confused Bruce Wayne will be there, and sometimes Ben might have to go bail him out in Chino.
Beyond these O.C. references that may prove moderately amusing to those who watched that show, of course, McKenzie also served as a cop to the L.A. of Southland—a district that was only slightly less cartoonish—and grew a pretty decent mustache in Junebug, so he has experience in two very crucial areas of being Jim Gordon. More importantly, he voiced Bruce Wayne himself in the animated Batman: Year One (opposite Bryan Cranston as Gordon), so he’s already very familiar with that comic-book world, beyond whatever Seth showed him.