Gotham Producer Teases Jerome's Return in Season 4

Screen Rant

By Michael Kennedy

Published Jul 26, 2017

Gotham executive producer John Stephens reveals a timetable for when Jerome Valeska (Cameron Monaghan) might reappear on the series.

Gotham executive producer John Stephens reveals a timetable for when Jerome Valeska (Cameron Monaghan) might reappear on the series. While Batman possesses one of the most interesting rogues' galleries of villains in comic book history, his most famous nemesis is inarguable: The Joker. The Clown Prince of Crime is definitely the Caped Crusader's most notorious foe, and as Heath Ledger's version of the Joker says in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, the two characters are likely to continue battling each other until the end of time.

Despite Gotham's young version of Bruce Wayne still not quite ready to suit up as Batman - although that time is clearly drawing near - arguably the FOX drama's most popular villain to date is Jerome Valeska. While Gotham's producers still refuse to confirm one way or the other whether Jerome will fully evolve into The Joker to Bruce's Batman, it seems likely that that'll be the case, as Jerome is basically The Joker in all but name at this point anyway.

Having already risen from the dead once, Jerome wasn't dealt with in a fatal way when he reemerged to terrorize Gotham during season 3. This time he was sent to a destination The Joker knows quite well: Arkham Asylum. Still, Arkham is infamous for its inability to retain its inmates, so it'll obviously only be a matter of time until Jerome's maniacal cackle will echo throughout the streets of Gotham once again. In terms of when fans can expect to see Jerome again, executive producer John Stephens offered the following comments during Comic-Con.

"What I will say about Jerome is that Jerome is in Arkham right now, and when you think about Arkham's record of keeping people locked up, we will probably see him again before the end of the year."

It's a tad unclear whether Stephens meant that fans will see Jerome return before the end of the calendar year 2017 or the end of the TV season, but either way, it seems certain that the "proto-Joker" will make an appearance before the end of season 4. That definitely doesn't bode well for the health of Bruce Wayne or Jim Gordon.

If and when Jerome does fully transform into The Joker that has been haunting comic pages for decades though, it looks like he won't be getting his own Harley Quinn, as Stephens recently confirmed that Mr. J's main squeeze isn't in the cards for Gotham. He shouldn't be too sad though, as there are plenty of other eligible psychotic women currently residing in the Gotham city limits.