‘Gotham’ Star Ben McKenzie Jokes About HBO Max’s Batman Show

Ben McKenzie starred as young Jim Gordon on five seasons of Fox’s “Gotham,” a prequel drama about the Gotham City Police Department, and he’s aware that HBO Max’s new show, a drama about the GCPD, sounds awfully similar.

When recalling his offer to do “Gotham,” which was written with him in mind, McKenzie mentioned his reaction to the script and the concept.

“So I read [the script] and I was like, wow. It was hard to argue against how cool the idea is,” he told the “Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum” podcast. He starred on the show for the entire run, from 2014-2019.

“So much so, and I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, you might even do the same idea again if you wanted to do a cop show set in Gotham City. You could do it again, even after you’ve done ‘Gotham,’” McKenzie quipped.

The joking comment comes after HBO Max announced their similar show on July 10. The untitled series is set in the Gotham City police department, but this time, it takes place in the world of “The Batman,” the October 2021 film starring Robert Pattinson as the Dark Knight.

HBO Max’s press release calls it a “groundbreaking television series” that will focus on the corrupt forces in the GCPD. “The series provides an unprecedented opportunity to extend the world established in the movie and further explore the myriad of compelling and complex characters of Gotham,” the release claims.

It isn’t clear if the HBO Max series will include Commissioner Gordon, who will be played in “The Batman” by Jeffrey Wright.