'Gotham' Wishlist: Top 10 Batman Villain Predictions

Fall isn't just the start of school or the changing season, it's also the brand new TV season. One of the most anticipated shows to premiere tonight is "Gotham" on Fox. Gotham tells the story of the future Commissioner Gordon (played by Benjamin McKenzie) and the origin stories of the many popular characters that make up the dark and gritty Gotham City in the time of Batman.

With the show set to air this month, many details have been revealed about the characters, including which comic book villains will appear as of the pilot episode. The Peguin, The Riddler, Catwoman and Poison Ivy are just four of the future villains who will have their origin stories explored in the first season. Similar to the likes of shows like "Smallville" and "Arrow", there are bound to be more characters and villains introduced throughout the season (and subsequent seasons, if successful).

Batman is my favourite superhero. What with the childhood cartoons, video games and movies, I am a fan - though I haven't read the comic books. In anticipation of the future characters, I've spent some time thinking of which potential villains could have their origin stories revealed on Gotham. NOTE: Just a helpful reminder, I didn't read the comic books so age accuracy and retcon could disprove some of my wishlist choices below. Also, I obviously left out the four villains above who will already be appearing in the show.

10. CLAYFACE

The genetically modified monstrosity. I'm not sure how Gotham's production will be run; I would assume it will be more realistic in special effects like Arrow compared to the upcoming "Flash" or Smallville. However, the original character of Clayface was supposedly an actor named Basil Karlo who was old enough to have a film be remade about him. Potentially Gotham could feature the younger actor as he films the original "Clayface" movie that would soon inspire his criminal moniker.

9. HUSH

A brilliant surgeon in Gotham City, Hush drastically changed his physical features to target two people: Bruce Wayne and Batman. Thomas Elliot (Hush) was a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne - he was jealous and competitive of his friend. Since the young Bruce Wayne will appear in the show, it would be great to see the future Hush around, showing the animosity which would inspire his future villainy.

8. MR. FREEZE

Let me get this out of the way: I'm not the biggest Mr. Freeze fan. His appearance in the Batman film that shall not be named ruined his image for me and I sometimes find him to be a tad corny. However, a re-imagining in a show like this - similar to the Dark Knight films - could fix that. His character is a little older in the current series so having him appear as a younger doctor wouldn't be completely out of the norm. It may not show his transformation into the demented Mr. Freeze but we could see his early beginnings with his ill-fated wife, Nora.

7. SCARECROW

This is more of a curiosity idea for me. Scarecrow has always been the creepy Batman villain, the one who always pops up to incite nightmares for the citizens of Gotham City. I would be interested to see Scarecrow, the younger Jonathan Crane, as he starts his fascination into psychology and bio-chemicals in the medical field. He probably wouldn't be as demented as he is in his adult life but his origin story may explain his fear of bats/fascination of fears. Note: this may already be explained in the comic books at a later time.

6. THE MAD HATTER

Jervis Tetch is a dark and deranged character in the Batman universe. He's a hat maker who is obsessed with Alice in Wonderland; he is forever searching for his missing Alice. He took on the alias of the Mad Hatter and uses mind control technology to serve his own will. He's one of the few Batman villains to become more evil and villainous as the years progressed since his introduction and it would be interesting to see how the show portrays him in their version. He would be younger in the origin story but potentially we could see the original Alice that inspired his future criminal career.

5. RA'S AL GHUL

Similar to Clayface in the special effects regard, Ra's al Ghul may be toned down if he makes an appearance in Gotham. He's the founder of the League of Assassins and he's also the father to Talia al Ghul, one of Bruce Wayne's future lovers. However, he's also centuries old and uses magical pits to sustain his age - that would be hard to explain on the show. He could prove to be future season villain. However, Ra's is a character that could potentially appear in other DC television shows as well so the chances of him appearing in Gotham may be slim to none.

4. PROFESSOR HUGO STRANGE

Batman Arkham City may be one of my favourite video games ever and Professor Hugo Strange was at the epicentre of the story controlling the events. Professor Hugo Strange is a terrifying character who uses powerful serums to control his victims. Before his descent into villainy, he was a psychologist. Out of the characters listed above, he may be one of the easiest to incorporate into the show as he could be the therapist or criminal psychologist to any of the criminals or victims in Gotham City.

3. BLACK MASK

At the heart of the Batman universe, Gotham City is plagued with crime and several groups run by powerful mob bosses. I don't just mean the groups in clown masks, two-face masks or snow suits but the actual criminal organizations. Black Mask is one such mob boss. Sure, he wears a dark leather black mask, but so do most of the people at S&M clubs. Black Mask is a power-hungry corrupt criminal mob boss in Gotham City who controls most of the inner-workings of Gotham City. Similar to Professor Hugo Strange, the Black Mask alias could be an easy villain to incorporate into the show.

2. TWO-FACE

Harvey Dent is a former Batman ally turned villain (and sometimes neutral ally). The scars on his face resulted when a mobster burnt half his face with acid. Soon Dent turned to crime as Two-Face, a criminal who flips a coin to determine decisions based on duality. While this wouldn't be the criminal origins of Two-Face, it could be the hero story of Harvey Dent as his younger self going into law or being a young friend to Bruce Wayne. He's one of the few on this list that I'm not sure could appear on the show; it may need to be similar to Poison Ivy's character and updated to fit the show's storylines.

1. THE JOKER

Who is the Joker?! Not much has ever been revealed about the psychotic clown and I wouldn't be surprised if the writers never do. He's shrouded in mystery and anyone who crosses his path always meets a devastating fate with a clownish twist. His age is a bit of mystery so I wouldn't know if he's around Bruce Wayne's age or older, but it could be a tempting idea. Many would be excited to see him featured on the show; however, I wouldn't expect to see the Joker appear for a very long time. If he were to ever be included as a storyline, it would probably be after a few seasons, or when they needed to add a truly menacing twist to the show.

Which villains do you want to show up in Gotham? Share your thoughts in the comments below.