Gotham – Carmine Falcone
By Steve Lam
Since the start of Gotham, we’ve seen the character of Carmine Falcone, portrayed by John Doman, as a mob boss who sometimes barks out commands and gives intimidating gazes. But in this week’s episode, What the Little Bird Told Him, we experienced a much more “hands-on” side of Falcone. Quickly reacting to Fish Mooney’s betrayal, and then coldly killing Liza, Falcone gave audiences a taste as to how this elderly gentleman amassed a mafia empire. As this more aggressive side of Falcone is being established in Gotham, we’re going to explore his characterization in the comics and other media.
Comic Book Biography
Created by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, Carmine Falcone made his first appearance in Batman #404 (February 1987), the issue that started the Year One story arc. Given the nickname “The Roman”, Falcone’s control over organized crime in Gotham City was compared to the Roman Empire.
In the 13-issue Batman: The Long Halloween (1996 – 1997), Falcone’s history is given more detail. During Bruce Wayne’s childhood, before his parents were murdered, a dying Falcone is brought to Dr. Thomas Wayne by Vincent Falcone, Carmine’s father. Carmine was shot several times by Luigi Maroni, Sal Maroni’s father. Afraid that Luigi might track Carmine down at a public hospital, Vincent implores Thomas to perform the surgery at Wayne Manor. Later, during Thomas’s and Martha’s funeral, Bruce is approached by a grateful Carmine who tells him that he can always ask for a favor.
In the 4-part Batman: Year One (February 1987 – May 1987), Falcone is portrayed as a powerful mob boss who has Gotham City’s highest ranking officials in his pocket. Targeted by Batman, Falcone’s business and organization come under constant attack. Unable to catch Batman, Falcone has his nephew, Johnny Viti, kidnap Detective James Gordon’s wife, Barbara, and son, James Jr., in a bid to get the Dark Knight to surrender. Working together, Gordon and Batman defeat Falcone’s plans. Due to Johnny’s failure, Falcone orders him to be killed. However, Johnny survives the hit.
Falcone is a major character in Batman: The Long Halloween. Finding Falcone’s stockpile of millions of dollars of cash, Batman and District Attorney Harvey Dent burn the money — dealing a huge blow to Falcone’s empire. Angered, he convinces Sal Maroni to kill Dent when Maroni goes to trial. On the day of the trial, Falcone’s men give Maroni a vile of acid. During a court proceeding, Maroni throws the vile of acid in Dent’s face — causing Dent to later become Two-Face. Eventually, Two-Face leads the Joker, Catwoman, Penguin, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Mad Hatter, and Solomon Grundy in infiltrating Falcone’s penthouse. When Two-Face flips a coin to decide Falcone’s fate, it lands on the scarred side — allowing Two-Face to carry out his execution of Falcone.
In the 14-issue Batman: Dark Victory (November 1999 – December 2000), Falcone’s body is stolen from its grave. Falcone’s son, Alberto, is also placed under house arrest and starts to hear his father’s voice. It’s later discovered that the Calendar Man and the Scarecrow created a ruse to make Alberto think his father was haunting him. In the end, it’s revealed that Falcone’s body was actually stolen by Two-Face and frozen using Mr. Freeze’s technology. At Falcone’s grave site, Selina Kyle believes that he is actually her biological father.
In The New 52 reboot, Carmine Falcone makes his first appearance in the second issue of Batman Eternal. Plotting to reclaim control over Gotham City, Falcone has both the Mayor and the Gotham City Police Department in his pocket. As Falcone and the Mayor command the police to take down Batman, he attacks the Penguin’s weapons stockpile.
Other Portrayals
On television, the character of Carmine Falcone has only appeared on Gotham. Portrayed by John Doman, he is much older than his other incarnations. However, in this universe, it is well-established that he runs Gotham City and has influence over several city officials.
Tom Wilkinson portrayed Carmine Falcone in Batman Begins (2005). Initially confronted by an untrained and angry Bruce Wayne, Falcone would be apprehended years later by Batman. Falcone is later incarcerated in Arkham Asylum after the Scarecrow drugs him with his fear toxin. In The Dark Knight (2008), Falcone’s name is mentioned, but Sal Maroni, portrayed by Eric Roberts, has taken over the criminal empire.
Carmin Falcone is a central figure in the feature-length animated film Batman: Year One (2011), which was based on the comic story arc of the same name. Voiced by Alex Rocco, Falcone’s control over Gotham, and confrontations with Batman and James Gordon deviate little from the source material.
In the video game Batman Begins (2005), inspired by the film, Tom Wilkinson returns to the role of Carmine Falcone. In the online game DC Universe Online and action-adventure video game Batman: Arkham City (2011), the Falcone crime family is referenced several times.
Gotham‘s Portrayal
Up to this point, Gotham‘s portrayal of Carmine Falcone has been a mixed bag of professional businessman and sympathetic lost boy (we know that his initial attraction to Liza was due to her resemblance to his mother). In What the Little Bird Told Him, this all changed. After learning about Liza’s ruse, Falcone strangles her to death with his bare hands. The act of killing Liza could’ve been performed in many ways (an execution by a third party, a gun, etc.), but Falcone carried it out personally with no weapons. The ability to turn on someone you had such a huge affection for speaks volumes about this character — when push comes to shove, he’s all business, and that’s how he climbed to the top.
In regards to his power and influence, from the pilot, Fish Mooney has been planning the ouster of Falcone. Calling him an “old man”, Mooney feels that Falcone is weak and is due to be replaced. We obviously know that’s not going to happen any time soon. With this latest episode, Falcone’s power and hold over the city has been reestablished. What will be Mooney’s fate? Falcone is a smart man, so he’s obviously keeping her alive for a reason.
Also, being a much older incarnation from what has previously been seen, Gotham is clearly rewriting Falcone’s biography. Instead of having Thomas Wayne save the life of a young Carmine, you now have a don who might even be behind the Wayne murders. The large age jump also makes it difficult for Bruce Wayne to have any type of vigilante-versus-criminal interaction with him. Since we’re on the subject of age, would it be preposterous to introduce the idea of Falcone being Selina Kyle’s biological father?
It certainly seems that moving forward, Falcone will be much more aggressive. And because of Mooney’s betrayal, he’ll need to be ever more vigilant of who he trusts. How will this affect the corrupt officials he already has control over? Will the next few episodes see Falcone clean house? It’ll be interesting to see a more determined Falcone tighten his control over Gotham City.
Fox’s Gotham airs on Mondays at 8:00PM EST.