‘Gotham’ Season 4 Spoilers: Michael Cerveris Talks About Professor Pyg

Michael Cerveris is ready to terrify the residents of Gotham City as Professor Pyg, a villain who wants to kill the corrupt cops, or “pigs,” from the Gotham City Police District (GCPD).

Cerveris told USA Today that Professor Pyg is out to get every cop who is on the payroll of Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor), with the exception of Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie), who he views as a kindred spirit.

“Professor Pyg is a brilliant and chameleon-like person who has a highly developed sense of what’s right and wrong — it just might not be a sense of right and wrong that corresponds with everybody else’s,” Cerveris said of his character.

As for Pyg’s fascination with Gordon, Cerveris said it was a “delight” to create “the fantastic, weird buddy movie” with McKenzie.

“He is almost looking at Gordon as an ally, like ‘I’m on your side, Jim.’ And Jim is saying, ‘No, you’re actually a sociopath.’ So it works in many ways as a seduction on Pyg’s part as he tries to pull (Jim) in,” said executive producer John Stephens.

Pyg’s plan will change “episode by episode,” Stephens added. Unlike other villains who have already been introduced in “Gotham,” Stephens said Professor Pyg is in a league of his own because “he hits that sweet spot of being grotesque and terrifying, but also a little bit in that fairy-tale-esque world.”

According to TV Line, Cerveris will appear in several episodes, and it’s all thanks to his buddy status with executive producer Danny Cannon. “Michael is one of my best friends,” Cannon said. “He was in my film school graduation movie, when we were both amateurs. And now he’s joining the fold as Professor Pyg.”

In the comic books, Pyg also goes by the name Lazlo Valentin. He wears a pig mask and is the leader of the Circus of Strange. He has a small army of “Dollotrons,” comprised of victims who wears doll-like masks.

Other stars of the show can’t wait for fans to meet Pyg, and they raved about Cerveris’ performance. “He’s such an incredibly gifted actor and, as happens a lot, the gentlest and most gifted of artistic souls can play the darkest, creepiest human beings known to literature or film,” Donal Logue, who plays Harvey Bullock, told Screen Rant.

Taylor shared the same sentiment as he described Cerveris as a “genius actor … just absolutely brilliant.” He added: “Visually, and his performance is transformative, so I’m really excited for people to see it because it’s really been something else to watch.”

“Gotham” Season 4 airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. EDT on Fox.