Is Gotham A Prequel To Batman v Superman?

12/26/2016 04:00 pm EST

Since the recent revelation that the Gotham Chronicle, a newspaper created for FOX TV's Gotham, appeared in a deleted scene from Suicide Squad, the old question of whether Gotham could end up tied into DC's Extended Universe and serving as a prequel series to Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice has re-emerged.

DC's official answer has always been no -- that the showrunners on Gotham wanted the freedom to tell their own stories without having to worry about "screwing with the future." That hasn't really been tested so far, since not much in Batman's life has been explored in the movies, since he came right into the Superman franchise rather than getting his own solo movie. Certainly there are some similarities between Alfred's depiction in Gotham and Batman v Superman, but that's about it.

So there's the official answer. There's also the unofficial, but real, answer, which is that the answer is "no until it's yes." We don't mean that it's a foregone conclusion that eventually they will decide Gotham is tied to the DCEU, but as we saw with "no Supergirl crossovers with The CW shows," these things are always thought of as a no until a yes is wanted or needed.

That said, we figured a more fun way of exploring the question that we get asked all the time would be to dig into some official material and see what that told us. What we landed on was the TimeOut Shortlist: Gotham City/Metropolis, an official publication released around the time of the Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice release and given away to VIPs at the movie's world premiere.

The book contains references to lots of Easter eggs from the comics -- if you're a fan of these characters, you really ought to grab one on Amazon if only becuase it's cheap and a ton of fun -- but some of them give a sense for how Gotham City has shaped up by the start of Batman V Superman.

It includes a restaurant owned by the Falcone family -- likely a mob front, although in Gotham, Carmine has retired already. That doesn't mean much, since even the idea that it's a front is supposition, but if Gotham were a prequel to Batman V Superman, we would at some point have to see how he or someone in his family became a restauranteur. Oswald Cobblepot has the Iceberg Lounge, which is more or less in line with what we've seen so far, and so that might be a vote in support.

The Sionis family also own a club -- although it's alleged to be a front for an underground fight club that law enforcement haven't been able to catch. That's an interesting angle, but again, not entirely in line with what we've seen in Gotham yet, nor out of line with it completely either.

It might be read into that there's no Sirens, although obviously Barbara seems like the kind of person who is likely to meet a nasty end at some point in Gotham City, so it's entirely possible that could be an evolution of the city rather than an indication that there's no ties.

Ultimately, though, we're going to say that based on the available evidence, Gotham is not a prequel to the DC Extended Universe.

Back when the Gotham Gazette viral site first launched, we noted that a story about Edward Nygma referenced Gotham City University, known in the comics as Gotham University, whose alumni include The Scarecrow, Spoiler and Booster Gold. And this is they key to our "no" answer: In the TimeOut book, that college is known by yet a third name: Gotham State University.

The idea that one shared and unique property like the Gotham Gazette could be enough to sustain a link isn't really supportable logic. The TimeOut Shortlist book also, for instance, includes Jitters, the coffee shop created for The Flash, and we wouldn't take that to be evidence of a tie between Dawn of Justice's Superman and the one who appeared on Supergirl this season.

MORE: Gotham Midseason Premiere: Ghosts Photos Released / Jerome's Corpse Uncovered In New Gotham Photo / Gotham Sneak Preview Teases Jerome's Return / Morena Baccarin And Ben McKenzie Are Engaged / Will Barbara Kean Become Harley Quinn? / Ben MacKenzie To Direct An Episode Of Gotham / James Remar Cast As Frank Gordon / Kevin Smith Wants To Direct An Episode Of Gotham / Who Are The Court Of Owls?

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is available on Blu-ray now, as is Suicide Squad. Gotham airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on FOX. New episodes return on January 16.

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