Did ‘Gotham’ Just Introduce Its Version of Onomatopoeia?

WARNING: Major Spoilers ahead for the latest episode of Gotham! Continue reading at your own risk…

Gotham is clearly loading up on its villains this season, with the likes of Scarecrow, Solomon Grundy and Professor Pyg all making their debuts. All of these moves affect Gotham City in the here and now, but is the show also making a move for the future of Bruce Wayne, and giving fans the untold origin of one of his dangerous comic book adversaries?

In this past episode, it seemed as though Gotham might have been laying the groundwork for Kevin Smith‘s villainous creation, Onomatopoeia.

Onomatopoeia is a character that doesn’t say much, but just speaks the sounds of the evil things he’s doing, like saying “Bang” when firing a gun. The villain was first introduced during Smith’s Green Arrow run, but became the main antagonist during the the “Cacophony” and “Widening Gyre” Batman volumes. What makes Onomatopoeia especially terrifying is that his backstory and true identity are complete mysteries.

In this week’s episode of Gotham, Penguin met a troubled young boy at Sofia’s orphanage. The kid was being picked on and decided to burn the backpacks of his bullies to get revenge, but Penguin took him under his wing in order to teach him the true art of vengeance.

Martin, the boy, doesn’t talk very much. Instead, he draws horrifying pictures of what he wants to do to those who wrong him. In addition to the drawings, Martin utilized sounds a couple of times to get his point across.

With the tutelage of Penguin, Martin seems like he could be on the way to becoming Onomatopoeia one day, as he’s the quiet yet destructive type.

The age of Martin is also worth looking into when comparing him to Onomatopoeia. When acting as Batman’s accomplice in “The Widening Gyre,” it was clear that the character was a bit younger than Bruce Wayne, wanting to learn from him and possibly take up the mantle at some point in the future. Martin is a few years younger than Bruce on Gotham, so the ages of the characters line up well.

The kid certainly wouldn’t become Onomatopoeia on Gotham anytime soon but, like Tommy Elliot’s future as Hush, the series could be attempting to install a long history for the character, giving him a backstory that the comics never did.

Gotham airs on Thursday nights at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.