Fox's Gotham prequel series has been a successful way to bring the world of Batman to television for the fans. Anticipation for the upcoming third season has been growing, as new casting and episode details begin to emerge online.

Lately there has been news of the possible inclusion of everyone from The Mad Hatter to comic book character Vicki Vale's aunt Valerie Vale, an original character created for the show. Now, the latest casting news promises to bring a well-known criminal from the comic books to the small screen with the introduction of Mario Falcone.

TV Line recently shared the news that James Carpinello (The Punisher) has been cast as Mario Falcone, the son of infamous Gotham City mob boss Carmine "The Roman" Falcone (John Doman) for the third season of Gotham. There was a time when Carmine Falcone had his wicked grasp on every aspect of Gotham, from the city government and police to the far-reaching corners of every crime boss in town. The head of the Gotham City crime syndicate, even powerful figures like Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith) would report to Carmine, but he eventually retired from his life of crime, leaving a vast hole in the leadership of the Gotham underworld that was soon filled by Oswald Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor).

Mario Falcone in Batman Dark Victory

Now we will be introduced to Mario Falcone, and while we don't know if he will have intentions of claiming his father's throne as king of the underworld, we do know that he will be throwing a wrench in the love life of Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie), who is already at odds with his fiancée, Lee (Morena Baccarin). Perhaps Falcone is in Gotham City to do both.

In the comic books Mario Falcone played a major part in classic Batman story arcs like Dark Victory and Batman: Streets of Gotham. The son of a feared crime boss, Jeph Loeb created Mario for Batman: Dark Victory, and based the character off of Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) from The Godfather film trilogy.

Mario Falcone is currently the head of the Falcone crime family - or, at least, he was when we last saw him make an appearance in the comic books a few years back. His exact place in Gotham has yet to be confirmed, and while he is sure to be at odds with Jim Gordon, he may end up working with him at some point. We know that the Gotham underworld often becomes divided between the more traditional crime families and the new arrivals trying to take over - the costumed "freaks" of the rogues gallery. The sad fact may be that the traditional criminals and their twisted sense of order and morality could be better for the city than the anarchy and outright disregard for all things that many of Batman's villains convey.

Gotham season three will premiere on the Fox Network on Monday, September 19th, at 8:00 Eastern / 7:00 PM Central

Source: TVLine