Gotham: First Look At Mr. Freeze

Nathan Darrow stopped by USA Today to speak to them about his role as Victor Fries, a.k.a. Mr. Freeze on Fox’s Gotham.  Via the interview, we also get our first look at the character.

And let’s not forget his weapon-of-choice — the notorious freeze gun.

What do you think?  I think I’m not alone in saying that the first time I saw the images, I thought I was looking at another character who deals with low temperatures — Captain Cold.  I’m not too hot (pun intended) on the goggles-and-hood look.  On top of that, why is Victor Fries already donning his Mr. Freeze attire years before the appearance of Batman?

Next: Gotham: Nathan Darrow Cast As Mr. Freeze

One of the most interesting aspects of the interview dealt with a discussion on Mr. Freeze being hit-or-miss, and how Arnold Schwarzengger “ruined” the character:

"Well, it depends on your definition of the word “ruined.” (Laughs) I have to plead some ignorance here. I never saw Batman & Robin, and I’ve seen bits of the old TV show but I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything involving Mr. Freeze. I looked at some artwork and there’s these backstories that’s written about the character. I grabbed some of that. I find the character to be like a lot of the characters on the show: What becomes interesting is this “villainy” is really something that is revealed out of a person in some particular circumstances with a particular history and what they care about combined with their own level of fear about being alive and being in the rather difficult world of Gotham."

I found it kind of odd how the creatives behind Gotham never had Darrow watch the version of Mr. Freeze from Batman: The Animated Series.  Mr. Freeze was so well portrayed that the episode won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program.

Victor Fries will make his first appearance on Gotham in tonight’s mid-season finale, “Rise of the Villains: Worse Than a Crime.”