Arkham Is Coming & That's Bad News for Jim Gordon

Listen up, Gotham fans. It's time. A monumental moment for the Batman comics and the corrupt yet intriguing city of Gotham is about to occur on the new FOX series and once it happens, it'll change the lives of every character we have met or have yet to see. No, I'm not talking about the appearance of the Joker, we're probably at least another 100 episodes away from that happening.I'm talking about the appearance of the Arkham district and the re-opening of the infamous Arkham Asylum. In a recent promo for Gotham , the series showed glimpses of the mental institution and the mayor of Gotham City's plans to reopen it to it's former glory. So what will this mean for the series and the city for which its named? Major, major story progression, that's what!

For those of you who know anything about any Batman comic, TV series, or film, you know that Gotham's Arkum Asylum is where the city's most insane and evil criminals are housed. And it's also the most escape-friendly mental institution in the entirety of both the fictional and real worlds. Everyone from the Joker to the Riddler to Mr. Freeze have been locked away at Arkham and most have escaped many times, thanks to corrupt employees and terrible security. So why is the appearance of a mental institution so crucial to the plot of Gotham?

Arkham is the symbol for corruption, evil, and craziness in the city of Gotham. The institution was built by Amadeus Arkham many years ago as he was inspired by his mother Elizabeth, who, in her later years, became mentally ill and required medical and psychological attention until she eventually committed suicide. Amadeus, while building the asylum, also went crazy. Thus the name of the institution became quite appropriate and also, in my opinion, could mean it's cursed to bring chaos to anyone who steps foot inside — or to the city if it is reopened.

If Gotham City's mayor in the FOX series gets his bill to reopen Arkham and fix the whole district, it's quite possible that all that will do is give crime bosses the chance to take over more area for corruption, and for Arkham Asylum to be overrun with shady figures. The institution's re-opening only signifies the start of Gotham City's descent into chaos, darkness, and madness. It will also mean that the reason for Batman's eventual appearance is not only justified, but completely necessary.

The future of Gotham City is in the hands of its government and citizens. And if we're learned anything so far from Gotham and the decades of Batman literature from the past, Arkham is not a good place for the future to be.

Image: Jessica Miglio/FOX