As dank and crime-ridden as it is, Gotham City is still one of the most fascinating fantasy movie environments next to the world of Harry Potter. The reasons for that go well beyond the interesting story of Batman and more into the design of a complete, complex metropolis where even sports teams get a passing mention. Better yet, Gotham City has an entire history behind it that could easily become our new American allegory for exploring how a major civilization went from one place to a much lower place within 200 years.
Now that another producer will have to take over the Batman/Dark Knight movie franchise, what could a stand-alone Gotham City movie explore if ever made? Potential is there for a fascinating epic that follows the same theoretical trajectory of America as a whole.
History
Those unfamiliar with the comic book history of Gotham City wouldn’t know how mystical its background is. It plays up the biblical idea that an evil entity possessed the island of what would become Gotham City, followed by burial there of said warlock as a form of damning the island to eternal darkness. Centuries later, the warlock reawakened and took the name of Doctor Gotham while taking responsibility for Gotham City’s corruption.
A film also has to cover the peaceful Magiani Native-American tribe who live on the island, become overtaken by a powerful shaman (Blackfire), then striking him down. While still shrouded in mystery, a film’s examination of this would be close to “Apocalypto” territory. We’d see an entire civilization disappear as either the result of the shaman’s revenge or another tribe destroying them.
If all that can be condensed reasonably, we’d then see early Europeans populate the island, followed by the colony’s disappearance, possibly as the result of reawakening the shaman. We’d also see the beginnings of the Wayne family, particularly Bruce’s early ancestor: Darius Wayne, who builds the famous manor. And if the film goes by linear time from where we are now, we’d see the great 20th century earthquake that cut Gotham off from the rest of the United States for a time while deemed “No Man’s Land.
Sports Teams
Outside of the Gotham Goliaths football team, did you know that Gotham City is supposed to have four other sports teams? They apparently aren’t into soccer, because the only others up for play are baseball, basketball, and hockey. You can’t have a Gotham City movie without showing the inner machinations of these teams and their possible associations with the city’s inexorable crime in determining which team wins.
Crime Origins
A Libertarian political theorist once thought that Gotham City had crime because it’s a coercive state. While there may be some truth to that without taking any political side, you can’t say that about their gun laws. Guns are easily obtainable there within stricter laws for other vices, hence giving the lethal mix that equates Gotham City to America’s own trajectory. Through that prism, the origins of the city’s first criminals would give us a chance to see a direct influence on how persistent crime begins.
However, a movie about Gotham City also potentially provides the spin that all movies do: Their environment is much worse than ours, and we have to be thankful for it.
