Gotham City, home of The Batman, trends on Twitter after a police department mistakenly sends an emergency alert to Missouri residents. Gotham was first identified in the pages of DC Comics in Batman #4 in December, 1940. Ever since, it has been the primary setting for stories revolving around Batman and his rogues’ gallery, including iconic villains like the Penguin, Riddler, Scarecrow, Two-Face, and the Joker.
The fictional city’s atmosphere and aesthetic is traditionally depicted as comparable to New York City and Chicago. On the big screen, Gotham has appeared in live-action via the 1989 to 1997 Batman series, Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, and the DC Extended Universe’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League. All of those films touch upon Bruce Wayne's origin story, which is tied to Gotham’s extraordinarily high crime rate. The idea of Batman was formed in part due to the Gotham City Police Department’s (GCPD) inefficiency and/or corruption, which has almost nothing to do with the mistake made in Missouri this week.
As shared by MSHP General HQ on Twitter, an emergency message was sent to cellphones Tuesday afternoon by the Missouri State Highway Patrol alerting residents to a purple or green 1978 Dodge 3700 GT with license plates sought out of Gotham City, Missouri. Notably, that particular vehicle is driven by the Joker’s (Jack Nicholson) goons in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman. The message was mistakenly sent during a test meant to ensure proper performance in times of emergency. The agency issued a follow-up alert on Tuesday afternoon explaining the first alert was fake. However, this didn’t stop the social media reactions to the Joker being on the loose in Kansas City, and Batman apparently nowhere to be found. Check it out below:
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As Gotham City trends, everyone has been reminded of the Caped Crusader's influence on popular culture. In fact, Matt Reeves's upcoming The Batman reboot starring Robert Pattinson is perhaps the most-anticipated film of the year. The film follows the early years of its titular vigilante and is inspired by comics including The Long Halloween. It will pit the “World’s Greatest Detective” against John Turturro's Carmine Falcone, Zoë Kravitz's Catwoman/Selina Kyle, Colin Farrell’s Penguin, Paul Dano’s Riddler — the latter of which will serve as The Batman’s main villain. As evident by the movie’s trailers, The Batman will see a dark, gritty, and corrupt Gotham realized on the big screen like never before, despite its surprising PG-13 rating.
Despite being a serial killer, Riddler’s motives in The Batman concern crime and corruption in Gotham. Teasers seem to imply that the Wayne family has even played a role in Gotham’s supposed fall from grace. This new take on Gotham and its history will set up Reeves’ inevitable trilogy and the two HBO Max spinoffs focused on Penguin’s origins and the Gotham Police Department. With no Joker currently set to appear, it remains to be seen if, at any point, the GCPD will need to alert residents to a purple and green Dodge.
Source: MSHP General HQ/Twitter
