Will Gotham Season 2 Introduce The Court Of Owls?

There’s one Batman villain – or rather group of villains – that actually lends itself quite nicely to the story of a prequel. The Court of Owls, as introduced to the Batman comics by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, has a long history in Gotham City, after all, helping to shape the city to their needs and ends.

Interestingly, that’s very close to how Jessica Lucas and James Frain described the Galavan family during our recent set visit.

“We have a long history,” Frain started, “yeah, with the city,” Lucas finished – already working together in a very sibling manner. They also said they’re on a revenge mission, implying that their family felt slighted, perhaps by the rise to power of the Waynes.

And that’s where this new image, released last week, comes into play. That’s Theo Galavan, seemingly having a conversation with a man in armor, some kind of cloak, and a very interesting looking cowl. The point on the cowl is especially interesting, as it is very reminiscent of the Owls and their footmen, the Talons.

The Talons in DC Comics are the agents of the Court of Owls who serve as their enforcers, their muscle, and more often than not, their assassins. The heads of the Court, meanwhile, are usually captains of industry, placing themselves in high level business and political positions.

That means they’re well trained, well armed, and well armored – we can definitely check off the latter two of those from this image, with a gun and two swords, and a cowl and gauntlet that are quite reminiscent of a certain vigilante (and of the Talons). But then, that’s it – it’s just a single still image, after all. There’s also something to be said for the amateurish nature of the outfit – one can’t help but think of “not just a guy in hockey pads” when looking at some aspects of the armor.

We know, however, that this season’s subtitle is “Rise of the Villains,” and that the Galavans are the newcomers to the show. Could it be that this time, the villains in question aren’t the colorful supervillains we saw week to week in season 1, but instead a behind-the-scenes set of villains who can manipulate the city of Gotham in a way that Batman would hope to ten or twenty years later. Frain also told us, after all, that there will be flashbacks as far back as the 19th Century – seeing the Galavan family in the 1800s, perhaps wearing some plain white masks, would sure open up the story of Gotham in a new way. Reaching into the past in the show would make it ironically more modern.

Do you want to see Talons and the Court of Owls come to Gotham? Sound off in the comments, and watch the season premiere on Fox on September 21, 2015 at 8pm.