Gotham: Benedict Samuel Cast As The Mad Hatter

Batman’s future rogues gallery grows one more with the casting of Benedict Samuel as the Mad Hatter for Gotham Season 3.

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Via TVLine, we have news that Benedict Samuel of The Walking Dead fame has been cast as the notorious Mad Hatter, a.k.a. Jervis Tetch. Fox and Warner Bros. gave the following casting description for the character:

"Tetch is a talented hypnotist teetering on the edge of madness. He arrives in Gotham with an unwavering desire to find his sister, Alice, a young woman who went missing in the city years ago. It is anyone’s guess just how far down the rabbit hole he’s willing to go in order to find her."

In addition to acting, Samuel Benedict is also a writer and a director. He has made multiple appearance in television and film. His television appearances include Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo, Home and Away, The Beautiful Life, Childhood’s End, The Walking Dead, and, most recently, Secret City. His film appearances include Underground: The Julian Assange Story (2012), Asthma (2014), The Stanford Prison Experiment (2015), The Walk (2015), and The Duel (2016).

Created by Bill Finger and Lew Sayre Schwartz, the Mad Hatter, a.k.a Jarvis Tetch, made his first appearance in Batman #49 (October–November 1948). The character’s biography can be said to be much darker and tragic than most of the other villains in the DC universe.

As a child, Jarvis was a loner and didn’t have any friends due to his odd appearance. As an adult, he became a neuroscientist and moved into a boarding house owned by a woman named Ella Littleton. He would later befriend Ella’s daughter—Connie—and help her with her homework from time to time.

Connie, in high school, became pregnant and lied to her strict mother that she was raped by a member of the Gotham Hawks baseball team. Ella then turns to Jarvis and convinces him to avenge this injustice. Jarvis then uses his mind-control technology and manipulates one of the players to kill his fellow teammates with a pipe bomb.

Jarvis’s first appearance as the Mad Hatter had him attempting to steal a trophy from the Gotham Yacht Club. He would later be apprehended by Batman.

The Mad Hatter would later make multiple appearances throughout the years. Due to his genius-level intellect, the character is considered one of the most dangerous villains in Batman’s rogues gallery.

As of this report, it’s unknown which Gotham Season 3 episode will mark the first appearance of the Mad Hatter.

Though Gotham Season 3 is still a few months away, don’t be surprised if Fox gives fans some big reveals at Comic Con 2016—which is only about twelve days away. So stay tuned and visit Bam Smack Pow often because we’ll be giving you all the latest breaking news on Gotham.

Next: Gotham: New Poster Debuts The Court Of Owls

Fox’s Gotham Season 3 promises the appearance of major antagonists—The Court of Owls, Mad Hatter, and Solomon Grundy. Another major change will be a much older Ivy Pepper / Poison Ivy via the casting of Maggie Geha who replaces original actress Clare Foley. Returning cast members include Ben McKenzie as James Gordon, Michael Chiklis as Captain Nathaniel Barnes, Sean Pertwee as Alfred Pennyworth, Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot / The Penguin, Erin Richards as Barbara Kean, David Mazouz as Bruce Wayne, Camren Bicondova as Selina Kyle, Cory Michael Smith as Edward Nygma / The Riddler, and Chris Chalk as Lucius Fox.

Fox’s Gotham Season 3 will premiere on Monday, September 19, 2016 at 8:00 p.m. EST.

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