Trick Or Treat? 'Gotham' Season 4 Will Follow Two Major Batman Stories

It's time to "supe" up or ship out when Gotham Season 4 returns to our screens later this year. There is certainly a shadow hanging over the infamous city, and it looks like we are preparing for Batman to finally unfurl his wings. However, with 78 years of #Batman lore to go over, what source material will #Gotham be pulling from this time around?

We have already seen Fox's superhero segue follow some pretty famous Batman storylines, like the Court of Owls and Gotham Central, however, with the "birth" of the Batman in Season 4, it sounds like we are about to go a lot darker with the Dark Knight.

Holidays are coming.

Speaking at San Diego Comic-Con, lead actor #BenMcKenzie told Digital Spy that this time we will be tackling the acclaimed Year One and The Long Halloween miniseries:

"Eventually this season, we are going to do our version of Year One, with Gordon as detective on the trail of Batman. So we will eventually get into that in season four – the beginning is more Long Halloween, our version of that, and the end is more Year One."

McKenzie — who plays Jim Gordon on the show — promises that Season 4 will kick off with Jeph Loeb's lauded The Long Halloween. Following one of Batman's first cases, the 13-issue arc hunts down a murderous villain who kills once a month and is ironically dubbed Holiday. While we know that Gotham won't be crafting a direct adaptation, will we likely see the Holiday mystery span the first half of Season 4 and possibly expose one of our returning cast members as the unknown criminal.

Also featuring an expansive rogue's gallery of Batman's usual foes, The Long Halloween includes the likes of Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy, Solomon Grundy, Scarecrow, Catwoman, the Penguin, and the Joker - all of which we have already seen (or been teased) on the show. We already know that #CameronMonaghan's Jerome Valeska's proto-Joker is locked up in Arkham, so Season 4 could be a prime time for him to break out once again.

One is the loneliest number.

Presumably wrapping up The Long Halloween in time for the mid-season finale, Gotham will then move onto Frank Miller's gritty Batman: Year One from 1987. Given that Year One tackles Bruce's first year as the Caped Crusader, the timing couldn't be better for Gotham to chart Bruce's newfound vigilante status. Bringing the graphic novel into the show, Year One could also point to troubled times ahead for McKenzie's Gordon and #DavidMazouz's Bruce Wayne. Miller's story famously pits Gordon and Batman at odds with each other, and McKenzie says that we will see at least some of this play out over the coming season:

"We are definitely leaning into Bruce, having learned some of the skills to be a vigilante, now actually attempting it. Now, we have a long, long way to go before he can realistically be Batman, so there will be many stumbles and falls – and regressions back to being a kid at times – but Gordon will eventually become aware of what he's doing and that will bring them against each other."

Either way, Gotham seems to be entering a more grown-up era and some gloomier days ahead for the already crime-riddled streets of DC's doomed city. With the arrival of Ra's al Ghul, Selina Kyle sharpening her claws, and the return of Scarecrow, it looks like Brucey could be taking the training wheels off his Batmobile when we return to Gotham.

(Source: Digital Spy)