Forget Batman, We Have a Commissioner Gordon Mustache Update for 'Gotham'
To lay down the law in Gotham City, Jim Gordon needs to look the part.
He may not be Gotham City’s police commissioner yet, but Captain James “Jim” Gordon is on his way to looking the part.
During Tuesday’s preview of the mid-season premiere of Fox’s Batman prequel series Gotham at Tumblr HQ in Manhattan, actor Ben McKenzie told Inverse that the upcoming run episodes will tease a mustache for young(er) Jim Gordon.
“There’ll be a little tease of that this season,” McKenzie explained to Inverse between amused chuckles. “There’ll be a little fun with that.”
Hopefully, CGI won’t be necessary if the second-most famous mustache in the DC Universe is only temporary. But, if Gordon ever does decide to rock facial hair for good, it won’t happen quite yet. “That’s for later,” he said. “I think that would be towards the end of the final season.”
Much like Bruce Wayne’s evolution into Batman will be sealed when he wears the cowl, Jim Gordon’s evolution into the Jim Gordon may be sealed when he lets his famed facial hair grow. And that older version of the character is a Jim Gordon that McKenzie is mighty familiar with.
“The Gordon I always knew when I was reading comics was he wore the weight of the city on his shoulders,” McKenzie said. “He’s 20 years or so older. Seasoned to the point of cured.”
Commissioner Gordon in the 'Batman' comics.
“To use the meat analogy, he was beaten down a lot,” added McKenzie. “At that point, both he and the city need someone like a Batman to save it in. We’re not quite there yet in, so we’re putting obstacles in front of him, giving him decisions that have no morally pure answer he could give. We’re just adding more and more to his shoulders.”
In Gotham, Gordon is saddled with an extra burden that isn’t present in the comics: his ex-fiance, Lee Tompkins (Morena Baccarin). The former doctor turned into a gothic “Robin Hood” earlier this season, when she took over a fight club in Gotham City’s poorest neighborhood.
“He’s trying to square the Le he knew with the new Lee and it’s not working. He’s grasping at straws,” McKenzie said about the new direction of Gordon and Lee’s relationship. “He’s not only worried for her, trying to bring her back to the mainstream good guys, but he’s also envious she gets to be a Robin Hood. Do all these things he wishes he could. He has to stay within the lines whereas she can do what she likes.”
Ben McKenzie, in the Season 4 mid-season premiere of 'Gotham.'
Maybe Gordon doesn’t need a ‘stache to be a hero, though. McKenzie said Gordon “will fix up Gotham or die trying.”
Gotham returns March 1 on Fox.
