Ready for a juicy Barnes storyline in Gotham season 3? Well, that’s what you should expect, as BuddyTV found out from Michael Chiklis at San Diego Comic-Con when he previewed the new season.

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Watch the video interview with Michael Chiklis:

Here are the highlights:

  • Chiklis remembered his first Comic-Con for Fantastic Four and remarked on how it’s grown. “It seems to be reflective of the times. It’s such an escapist thing. It’s pure entertainment and it brings a lot of joy to a lot of people and I think that makes it act as a real magnet, just draws so many people from so many different walks of life in.”
  • The reason he took this role will start to play out this year. He discussed the arc of his character last year.
  • He said it’s been wonderful to “have a life” because of the big cast. He’s in New York, has seen every show, goes to concerts, Central Park, etc.
  • His character will “undergo a transformation” he thinks the audience will “eat up with a spoon and really, really dig.” This is “what attracted me to the gig,” he shared.
  • At the beginning of the season, Barnes is badly hurt and has returned to the GCPD but is “diminished” and “depleted.”
  • Barnes looks at Gordon like a son and wants to keep him from becoming something he’s not. Gordon is trying to fight fire with fire, and Barnes is trying to stop him from that, but not with a lot of success. Then something “terrible crazy” happens, leading to a totally different dynamic.
  • According to Chiklis, comic books and graphic novels speak to very broad but real themes of humanity, the “innate struggle between good and evil in ourselves and in the world.” He thinks it’s the reason it draws so many people in. On the one hand, there’s the escapist aspect, but it also speaks to the dark aspect of human nature and desire for heroism to vanquish it.

Gotham season 3 premieres Monday, September 19 at 8pm on FOX.

(Image courtesy of Warner Bros.)

Meredith Jacobs

Contributing Writer, BuddyTV

If it’s on TV — especially if it’s a procedural or superhero show — chances are Meredith watches it. She has a love for all things fiction, starting from a young age with ER and The X-Files on the small screen and the Nancy Drew books. Arrow kicked off the Arrowverse and her true passion for all things heroes. She’s enjoyed getting into the minds of serial killers since Criminal Minds, so it should be no surprise that her latest obsession is Prodigal Son.