Fox’s “Gotham” returns Thursday for its fourth season, bringing the city a would-be Batman in the guise of young Bruce Wayne taking on a vigilante mantle and testing his skills thus far against crime. At just 16-years-old, actor David Mazouz is the youngest actor to take Bruce in this direction and the young crimefighter will learn some hard lessons this season.
Armed with a protosuit and eventually getting some gadgets in his arsenal, Bruce is out to take on Gotham’s biggest criminals, including the newly-debuted Scarecrow.
Newsarama had the chance to catch up with Mazouz, on his way to school no less, about what lies ahead for young Bruce Wayne in the upcoming season from his relationship with Selina Kyle and the biggest challenge.
Newsarama: So, David, you have this proto-bat suit this season of “Gotham”. What was it like suiting up for the first time?
David Mazouz: It was really, really exciting getting fitted for that. At the end of last season, Bruce was just in a flowing overcoat and even in that was really cool. Then as you’ve seen in the promos, he gets this leather jacket and custom-made mask so when I put that on – I must have been fitted six times – it was just so excited and fits so perfectly. It was a great feeling and great moment.
Nrama: Can you explain the logistics of the suit?
Mazouz: Oh my God, it’s boiling, especially during summer in New York. But I kept reminding myself as I was dying and thinking of freezing baths, that I will be thankful for that in a few months when it’s cold as it has so many layers to it.
Nrama: Are there any bat gadgets this season as well?
Mazouz: Yes, there are. We have some proto-grappling hooks and some other things that Lucius Fox will provide for this journey. I think in the latter part of the season Bruce is really going to start to develop his alliances and his enemies in this new vigilante persona of his.
Nrama: How does the GCPD react to this new vigilante?
Mazouz: Gordon is not going to like this new vigilante and Bruce is going to be investigating Gordon as well. Gordon is going to make some decisions that Bruce will find out and he’s not going to like him so much. All the meanwhile, Gordon is climbing up the ranks in the GCPD and he’s not going to like this vigilante running around.
Nrama: Will you be altering your voice a la the movies?
Mazouz: For now, the initial answer is yes. I don’t know the extent of what they’ll do. We’ve done a lot of different versions of voice alterations and I’m very curious in what they pick.
Nrama: Selina and Bruce had this moment in their relationship last season that essentially saw them break apart with her taking steps in her destiny as well. Where are Bruce and Selina headed this season?
Mazouz: Yeah so Selina and Bruce are tearing apart and that’s largely because Bruce had this huge conflict where he had to choose between caring for Selina and his destiny and he chose the latter.
That was kind of the final nail in the coffin, but that being said just because their relationship is over, doesn’t mean that her proto-Catwoman and Bruce’s vigilante won’t have a relationship of their own.
Nrama: You guys are introducing Scarecrow this season. Will Bruce interact with him much or is that plot reserved for different characters?
Mazouz: Scarecrow affects everyone in Gotham. Bruce doesn’t necessarily take him on one on one, but is affected by what Scarecrow does with his fear toxin. What I’m actually really excited about is Bruce taking on Penguin in the first episode as his enemy. I was talking to John Stevens, who is one of our executive producers, and he had invited me to the writer’s room one time and asked me if there was anything I wanted to do and I said I’d love to have a scene with Robin because Bruce and Penguin haven’t had one scene together and we’ve never actually talked to each other. So last year we had a scene together and this year. So that relationship will be quite the adversarial one throughout season four.
Nrama: Lastly, what do you think Bruce’s biggest challenge will be this season?
Mazouz: About five episodes in, he does something he doesn’t think he could ever come back from and it will affect everything in his life. He will become a different person and go down a downward spiral. His coping mechanism is not at all healthy so we’re going to see him fall and his biggest challenge will see him pick himself back up.
