When the third season of Gotham starts back up gain later this month, fans can look forward to Edward Nygma’s (played by Cory Michael Smith) transformation into The Riddler — the criminal mastermind who enjoys toying with Batman with riddles and puzzles. The classic villain first appeared in Detective Comics #140 (Oct. 1948) and was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Dick Sprang.
Nymga will now be donning the Riddler’s signature green suit, and since showrunners planned for his transformation ahead of time, Smith took part in costume fittings nearly a year ago. “When I was at Comic-Con last year, I was trying on green suits,” Smith told Screener at WonderCon. “They just have gotten greener and greener and greener and greener.”
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When the suit was completed and unveiled to Smith, he wasn’t prepared for how bright it was. “When I went in for the suit we were going to use in episode 15, I walked in… It’s like bright, glittering from the corner of the room on the rack,” he shared, “and I was like, ‘That cannot be on my body. That is a sparkly green thing — that is not the suit. Please tell me.’”
Smith was shocked by its brightness and boldness because most of the Gotham costumes are “really dark and kind of subdued.” After the initial shock, he had a different reaction once he put on the suit.
“When I put it on, we used the same tailors that make all my suits,” he explained. “It was just beautiful, with the black velvet. We have these gorgeous black shoes with just a hint of a purple/maroon thing, just on the shoes. I got really excited, because it was shocking on the rack, but then it was on my body and I was like, ‘This feels so right.’”
Nygma convinces himself that he doesn’t need Penguin to succeed and begins to introduce himself to Gotham as “The Riddler.” Bullock and Lucius Fox get caught up in Nygma’s mind games, while Gordon learns troubling news about his father’s death. Meanwhile, the Court of the Owls reveals its next move.
The regular cast features: Ben McKenzie as Detective James Gordon, Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock, David Mazouz as Bruce Wayne, Morena Baccarin as Leslie Thompkins, Sean Pertwee as Alfred, Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin, Erin Richards as Barbara Kean, Camren Bicondova as Selina Kyle/the future Catwoman, Cory Michael Smith as Edward Nygma/the future Riddler, Jessica Lucas as Tabitha Galavan, Chris Chalk as Lucius Fox, Drew Powell as Butch Gilzean, Maggie Geha as the future Poison Ivy, Michael Chiklis as Detective Nathaniel Barnes, and Benedict Samuel as Mad Hatter.
The guest cast includes James Remar as Frank Gordon and H. Foley as Winston Peters.
The spring premiere of Gotham, which is titled “Heroes Rise: How the Riddler Got His Name,” will air Monday, April 24 at 8:00-9:01 PM ET/PT on FOX.
MORE: Gotham WonderCon Panel Teases Upcoming Twists And Turns / Gotham Casts Alexander Siddig as Ra’s al Ghul / Timelapse Video – Cameron Monaghan Removing Jerome Face Mask
