First Glimpse At Gotham's Batman Is Finally Here

The Dark Knight is finally arriving in Gotham.

Fox has released a poster for the final two episodes of its Batman prequel series, which all season long has only hinted at the eventual appearance of the iconic alter-ego of Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz). For fans, the wait to see that famed cape and cowl has been a long one — and it is over.

Of course, the poster doesn't give too much away, as the Caped Crusader is seen only from behind. However, the poster lines up well with a leaked image purporting to reveal Gotham's Batsuit design, which we reported on earlier this month. As we noted then, the Gotham version of Wayne's Bat-duds appears to be heavily influenced by the design featured in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, with perhaps just a spritz of Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin iteration mixed in for good measure. (Fear not, though: the leaked image revealed no Bat-Nipples, and it would be completely out of character for Gotham's Wayne to whip out his Batman-branded credit card.)

Since that report, we've seen one hell of a traumatizing tenth episode: entitled "I am Bane," it saw Jim Gordon's Army buddy Eduardo Dorrance taking on the mantle of the classic villain, and wasting no time asserting himself as a holy terror. He and his commanding officer Theresa Walker — who subsequently revealed herself to be none other than Nyssa Al Ghul, the daughter of Ra's Al Ghul — kidnapped Gordon, Wayne, and General Wade, with Nyssa brutally torturing Gordon as revenge for his role in her father's demise. Bane then set his sights on a very pregnant Barbara Gordon, who was rescued from a terrible fate by Selina Kyle and Alfred, who paid dearly for his interference. At the hands of Bane, he suffered the same back-breaking fate famously inflicted on Bruce himself in the comics, allowing Barbara to escape and give birth to a daughter. Unfortunately, she was then captured by Nyssa, even as Wayne managed to extricate himself and rescue Gordon and Wade. This small victory was short-lived, though, as it turned out that Wade was under the influence of Hugo Strange — and in the episode's closing moments, the General ordered the military to bomb Gotham into oblivion.

The final two episodes promise to be jam-packed with even more action, more narrow escapes, and — almost certainly — even more trauma. What's unclear is just how much Bat-Action we'll actually get to see, as we know that the last episode will feature a ten-year time jump, after which Wayne will appear in full Bat-Mode (sorry, we can't resist). Just how much of episode 12 will take place after this jump, though, is not certain.

Also, it's been revealed by Gotham executive producer John Stephens that Mazouz won't technically fill out the Batsuit himself, as the costume was designed "for someone that is six-four," which the actor is decidedly not. Rather, a stand-in will be employed, with Mazouz' face digitally inserted under the cowl. And yes, Mazouz' voice will also be used — complete with his own version of the "Bat-growl."

Although they haven't been officially announced by Fox, we also know the titles of the last two episodes, thanks to the fifth season's Blu-Ray box set — the design for which was leaked by Decider's Alex Zalben. Episode 11 will be titled "They Did What?" while the series-closing episode 12 will carry the appropriate title "The Beginning..."

While it's been a pretty fantastic ride for Gotham, it's safe to say that the show's legions of fans are likely to be pretty disappointed with only a few minutes of Bat-screen time, especially considering the massive tease that is this poster (to say nothing of the fact that this entire final season was titled "Legend of the Dark Knight"). Here's hoping that, after five seasons and 100 episodes, the show sees its way clear to give the fans what they've been waiting patiently for: Batman, fully formed, just beating the ever-loving snot out of a phalanx of baddies in his own inimitable fashion for a goodly portion of that final episode. We only have a few more weeks to wait: "They Did What?" airs on April 18, and "The Beginning..." follows on April 25. Check out the full poster below.