Once the fan favourite Proto-Joker met his demise at the hands of Azrael in Gotham's sophomore season, viewers demanded that the character return in some fashion. The character, Jerome Valeska, was finally resurrected at the end of the third season's Mad City arc, but was promptly locked in Arkham Asylum once his brief role in the storyline concluded. Now, if you have been eagerly anticipating when this character would once again make an all-too-rare appearance on the show, you should rest easy knowing that you won't have to wait any longer... Jerome will be returning no later than on this season's fall finale.
ALLIANCES ARE TESTED ON THE ALL-NEW FALL FINALE OF "GOTHAM" THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, ON FOX
Things get complicated for Gordon, Sophia and Penguin when Carmine Falcone (guest star John Doman) comes to town. Alfred tries to get through to Bruce once and for all, while Nygma struggles to gain control over The Riddler persona and Tabitha attempts to make Grundy remember his past. Meanwhile, a familiar smile resurfaces in Gotham in the all-new "A Dark Knight: Queen Takes Knight" fall finale episode of GOTHAM airing Thursday, Dec. 7 (8:00-9:01 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (GTH-411) (TV-14 L, V)
Guest Cast: Michael Cerveris as Professor Pyg, Cameron Monaghan as Jerome, John Doman as Carmine Falcone, Anthony Carrigan as Zsasz
Earlier this year, EP Bryan Wynbrandt stated that Jerome won't be the actual Joker, which shouldn't come as too much of a shock considering that several potential Jokers were introduced in the first three seasons: "He's obviously not the Joker himself, although we clearly seems to be the impetus that eventually creates the Joker. The more that we see him, the more he carves out his own path I'd say. I wouldn't say he becomes more the Joker, but the Jerome character continues to evolve. I think that's what makes him so exciting is that he's not the Joker. He is Jerome." Even in the comic books, no one knows for sure how the Joker came to be, including the Joker himself, who prefers to keep his past "multiple choice." As such, every canon attempt at an origin is soon retconned or contradicted. Perhaps the show will take a similar approach? Gotham returns Thursday, November 30, on Fox.