Gotham - James Gordon/Alfred Pennyworth Have Been Cast: EDITED

And he's going to be played by ....

Benjamin McKenzie of course. The 35 year old actor, mainly known for his roles on The OC and Southland has bagged the role of Detective James Gordon and upon announcement of his casting tweeted this ...

All I can promise is I will do my best not to screw this up. Can't wait to get to work.

I kind of feel bad that Ben felt he needed to tweet that to be honest. I wasn't a massive fan of The OC but I caught the odd episode of Southland here and there and I do think McKenzie is a solid actor. He might not be some fans perception of who the character of James Gordon is but I'd rather see him in action first and he's also age appropriate for the role as well. I wish both McKenzie and Gotham luck and can't wait to find out who else will be joining the cast for this show over the next few months.

However this isn't McKenzie's first foray into the Batman universe. He previously voiced the Dark Knight in Batman: Year One and no doubt, his former football star/war hero/current detective Gordon will also encounter the younger Bruce Wayne in the upcoming series.

Meanwhile (and the reason I'm editing this blog post), it's also been revealed that Sean Pertwee has been cast in the role of Alfred Pennyworth - a former marine, who becomes a butler to the Wayne family and fiercely protective of Bruce upon a tragic accident. Meanwhile Robin Lord Taylor (recently seen in The Walking Dead) has been cast in the role of the Penguin/Oswald Cobblepot, who in this universe will be seen as a low level psychopath working for gangster Fish Mooney. Other cast members include Sons Of Anarchy's Daniel Logue as Harvey Bullock, Merlin's Erin Richards as Dr Barbara Kean (Gordon's fiancee) and Zabryna Guevara as Captain Essen, Gordon’s boss at the GCPD Homicide Squad. I have to admit that already this show is sounding a tiny bit more exciting than Batman Vs. Superman.

Casting News 1: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/news/a549926/gotham-the-ocs-ben-mckenzie-to-play-commissioner-gordon-in-fox-show.html
Casting News 2: http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/gotham/29254/sean-pertwee-cast-as-gothams-alfred

Gotham begins production soon and will air for the 2014-2015 television season for FOX.