Haute 100 LA Update: Jada Pinkett Smith to Star in New Fox Series about Gotham City

Jada Pinkett Smith is returning to TV this fall as the villain Fish Mooney on Fox’s new series about Gotham City.

The show takes place in Bruce Wayne’s early days, before he became Batman. Its protagonist is a young Jim Gordon, played by Southland star Ben McKenzie, as he learns the ins and outs of the Gotham City Police Department.

Though Gordon will have some help in the form of GCPD detective Harvey Bullock (Sons of Anarchy star Donal Logue places his mentor), Pinkett-Smith won’t be playing the heroine here.

The 42-year-old actress plays a “sadistic gangster boss and nightclub owner [who’s] got the street smarts and almost extra-sensory abilities to read people like an open book. Imposing and hotheaded, she’s not one to be crossed.”

Her character is an original and cannot be found in the comics.

In addition to Bruce Wayne, the cast of characters includes Dr. Pamela Lillian Isley (later known as Poison Ivy); Selina Kyle (eventually known as Catwoman); Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot (who becomes the Penguin); and Edward Nashton (The Riddler).

The plot of the hour-long format drama explores the aftermath of the night Wayne’s parents Thomas and Martha were murdered; Gordon and Bullock are given the case. And thus, Batman begins.

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