Gotham Teases Harley Quinn, The Joker and Way More

Gotham wants to make all of your villain wishes come true.

Executive producers Ken Woodruff and John Stephens said at the Television Critics Association fall previews on Monday, they are working out how to bring a precursor Harley Quinn to Gotham. The downside is that it may take a while to see the DC Comics villain, because the character was just a featured player in the just-in-theaters Suicide Squad movie.

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"A lot of those characters because they're in the Suicide Squad are not going to be seen this season. We will be seeing proto-versions of some of those characters," executive producer John Stephens said. "We'll be seeing a Killer Croc proto-vision. We'll also be seeing a character who, maybe not this season, but in time to come, can be seen as a forerunner to Harley Quinn."

Proto-versions of characters don't necessarily mean you'll see a teenage Harley or Killer Croc, but you'll be able to see the origins of the iconic characters that you know and love.

There are many other big surprises coming to the Batman prequel series. TVGuide.com broke down the biggest reveal from the panel below.

1. Don't turn your back on Jerome: Jerome (Cameron Monaghan) spawned the ethos of what will become the Joker at the beginning of Season 2, and almost instantly became a fan favorite villain. The executive producers say that Jerome's work isn't done, and the Joker mythology will continue to evolve this year and beyond.

"We've really imagined developing the myth of the Joker at the same time we're developing the myth of Batman. We really want it to stretch over multiple seasons. This year, we're going to see how the cult of the Joker -- which we started in the beginning of last year and we touched on it in the middle of the year -- is going to extend, deepen and change a little bit this year. You have these underground movements that have started to talk about Jerome and what he represented and how he's going to come back," Stephens said.

The hope is that the underground movements will lead to a return for Jerome and his Joker-ish followers.

"Hopefully, we'll bring that back in a much bigger way and you'll see these different versions of these Joker myths that we'll develop next year with Jerome and other characters. If you put those pieces together you'll be like, 'Oh, that's what the Joker himself looks like,'" he continued.

2. Bruce will adopt his "playboy persona": Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) is going to be growing up this season and develop one of his future self's more unlikeable characteristics. "Every year we look at what piece of Batman we can put in Bruce this year. This year we're going to see him starting to build the playboy persona that he'll fake in the future," Stephens said. "We're going to see Bruce descend into that world a little bit. He's going to begin in this season having to dig himself out of this big hole and at the beginning of Season 4 he'll find himself in very dire circumstances."

3. The new Ivy will be the canonical seductress: There was a lot of pushback when it was announced that Gotham Season 3 would be casting Maggie Geha in the role of Poison Ivy. The producers explained why the change (from a younger, less traditionally "sexy" Ivy) was necessary, and what to expect from Ivy's new form. "Canonically, Ivy is a character who makes use of her seductive powers to get what she wants in the world," Stephens said. "Transforming Ivy early in the season allowed us to play to a lot of those abilities that Ivy has, while playing the fun of someone trapped in a body that isn't theirs."

Co-executive producer Ken Woodruff adds that Ivy's transformation isn't a purely physical phenomenon. "There is a deeper, more emotional character side of [the transformation]. We took Ivy from the 15 year old socially odd girl, to someone who is a little bit darker, who is maybe willing to do things and harm people," he said.

4. Tabitha and Barb are starting a siren club: When you have a city full of villains it is unavoidable that they'll begin to team up. One of the fun combinations is Tabitha (Jessica Lucas) and Barb (Erin Richards). In Season 3, they'll be putting their villainous genius together and starting a siren club in the city.

5. The origin of Solomon Grundy will be revealed through the Court of Owls: It may be a while before Harley Quinn makes her way to Gotham, but the origin story of Solomon Grundy is going to be explored at the end of the upcoming season. "Solomon Grundy is actually related to Indian Hill and to the Court of Owls," Stephens said. "That mystery of how the creation of Solomon Grundy actually happens will be revealed when we get deeper into the Court of Owls at the end of Season [3]."

Gotham premieres Monday Sept. 19 at 8/7c on Fox.