On the night that Marvel launched Agents of SHIELD on ABC comes word that Fox has committed to going forward with Gotham — featuring a younger Detective Gordon, and what sounds like some of Gotham's infamous villains — but not Batman.

Deadline has the word:

In one of the biggest drama deals this season, after a bidding war, Fox has landed Gotham, from Warner Bros. TV and The Mentalist creator Bruno Heller, with a series commitment. For Gotham, Warner Bros TV is mining one of DC Comics' most popular character universes, Batman. It explores the origin stories of Commissioner James Gordon and the villains who made Gotham City famous. In Gotham, Gordon is still a detective with the Gotham City Police Department and has yet to meet Batman, who will not be part of the series.

Naturally we saw this coming…

Brendon's update: Thanks very much to Mark for posting the original story while I was asleep. There's a few things I want to add.

I think it's worth noting that this show went out to bids and has landed on Fox, away from The CW, Arrow and The Flash. This indicates not only that Gotham won't cross over with those shows, but because it won't have to, it can have whatever tone and rulebook it pleases. Well, within the confines of a Network TV show. Hannibal may have pushed the edges of Netwrok TV out a little; I'm not sure Gotham is about to do the same, but maybe.

I'm no fan of The Mentalist, personally, so I can't say I'm overjoyed Bruno Heller is holding the reins on this, but he may well ace it. You never know.

And, also, there's nothing stopping them from rewriting Batman continuity and bringing in villains that, in other media, only existed after Bruce donned his cowl. They're really only leaving out Batman, at heart, because they have to, I don't know they'd be able to resist The Joker, ultimately, if he was truly on the table.