Paul Reubens, the actor best known for his iconic role as Pee-Wee Herman, will play The Penguin/Oswald Cobblepot’s father in “Gotham” season two, star Robin Lord Taylor revealed during the show’s panel at New York Comic Con.
“He will be showing up very soon,” Taylor teased, before letting his fan enthusiasm out. “Pee-Wee Herman is playing my dad! What the hell? Oh my god!”
Fittingly, Reubens has already played the role of the Batman villain’s father before — he appeared as Tucker Cobblepot in 1992’s “Batman Returns.”
This Monday’s episode sees the introduction of Michael Chiklis as Captain Nathaniel Barnes, and Chiklis described his character as “a countermeasure to the villainy in Gotham.” He’ll be attempting to pull the police department out of the muck — especially Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie), who is “sliding down that slippery slope of the ends justify the means.”
McKenzie admitted that “Gordon is not going anywhere good” in season two, especially given his alliance with Penguin.
On that front, Taylor teased, “All the villains are going to start interacting with each other, and not just the villains but the heroes as well … fun stuff is coming up.” Fans of Penguin and Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith) will be pleased to hear that the duo have a “big storyline” this season, since Nygma has become somewhat obsessed with Penguin.
McKenzie also noted that this season, every episode is building on the momentum of the last and setting up new conflicts for the weeks to come. “Really pay attention,” he advised fans. “There are little nuggets that are sprinkled in that will pay off later.”
Many fans are reeling from the death of Cameron Monaghan’s Jerome, a character some believed was a precursor to the Joker. “Gotham” producer John Stephens played coy on the Joker legacy, but said we’ll see “seeds of how that story’s going to develop,” and of Jerome, he teased, “you probably haven’t seen the last of that fellow.”
“Gotham” airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on Fox.
