Gotham City is probably the most iconic city in the DC Universe and is most commonly known as the home of Batman. While Gotham is a beautiful city with plenty of history and charm, it is typically seen as a grim and unforgiving city filled with crime, corruption, and greed.
As the home of Batman, Gotham City has been portrayed in comics, TV shows, video games, and movies. Focusing on the movies, there are always constants in these portrayals of Gotham, including certain factors that are more in line with the comics than others.
10 Right: The Dark Nights
In all of the films that feature Gotham City, the skyline is dark, gloomy, and sinister. Through a combination of smog, skyscrapers, and Bat-Signals, the Gotham horizon has always seemed ominous. If anyone in the city were to look out their window during day or night, there would be nothing to let them know that happy, sunny days of rejoicing were ahead.
This key factor is integral to the character of Batman. Because Bruce Wayne has grown up in Gotham, he knows that this city has looked this way forever and that despite the grim circumstances of the city, it has seen prosperous days before. But the dark and troubled skies of Gotham City don't deter Bruce Wayne, instead, they motivate him. They remind him that in good times and bad, Gotham's skies have been dark. But the skies, while they may be dark, now sport the Bat-Signal, and with it a promise that change will come to this great city.
9 Wrong: Acting Like The GCPD Isn't Corrupt
After Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne fully establishes himself as Batman, and with the help of Jim Gordon, begins to mount a campaign against crime in Gotham. In The Dark Knight, Jim Gordon is promoted to Commissioner of GCPD, and Batman is confident that he can stomp out corruption in his city, despite the emergence of the mysterious Joker.
But what becomes clear over the course of the film is that the Joker's influence is far-reaching and that he certainly has control over the GCPD. Joker's ability to kidnap Harvey Dent, Rachel Dawes, and Jim Gordon's family despite Gordon's best attempts to protect them proves that even his own police division can't be protected from the corruption of the Joker, and that even Gotham's bravest can't be trusted.
8 Right: The Huge Wealth Inequality
It's important to remember that Bruce Wayne is the sole heir to an absurd family fortune of generational wealth and that the rest of Gotham doesn't live as he does. One asset to the typically grim depictions of Gotham seen in the films is the portrayal of wealth inequality in the city.
The crime in Gotham is due to the large wealth inequality in the city. Huge unemployment rates force people to pursue illegal activities, forcing them to fall in with criminals like the Joker or the Penguin, working as henchmen, informants, or even enforcers, where they're sure to run into the Batman.
7 Wrong: Batman isn't The Only Hero In Gotham
The timeline of superhero films is always something that is left to be considered whenever things go awry. Why is it when disaster strikes, there is only one team of superheroes in the vicinity able to help? In The Dark Knight Rises, when Bane takes Gotham hostage, and Batman and Catwoman are forced to leave the city and go into hiding, Gotham is sent into turmoil, with criminals being released from prison and running the streets.
While Christopher Nolan's universe isn't tied to the DCEU, in many Batman movies it has to be noted that Gotham City is home to many heroes that aren't bat-related. Huntress, Grifter, and Alan Scott are all known to have lived in Gotham City, and while it's understood that these characters aren't included in these cinematic universes, it should be mentioned that Gotham City isn't only protected by the Bat.
6 Right: The City Is Uncomfortable With Vigilantes
"Maybe it's the Gotham City in me, we just have a bad history with freaks dressed like clowns." This quote from 2016's blockbuster Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice fully encapsulated Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne. To live in Gotham for any period of time is to be witness to a growing number of vigilantes, which would make anyone fear for their own safety, as well as the safety of their city.
Unlike Metropolis, Gotham doesn't have a flying Kryptonian with a perfect smile. The criminal underground in Gotham has the city under its thumb, and its inhabitants are caught in a hostage situation, with these very grim measures drawing out the most severe response: the Batman.
5 Wrong: Forgets The History of Gotham
Gotham City is a city with a long and vast history. As a result, the city has been home to generational institutions and legacies that have long withstood the test of time, and take precedence over the current establishments in Gotham. A city full of secret tunnels, long-standing traditions, and families that have influenced the city for generations, Gotham is nothing without its history.
While the films usually do establish some social order in Gotham, it usually is only central to Bruce Wayne. The Wayne family fortune is made known, but nothing is ever mentioned of the adjacent families to the Waynes, such as the Kanes, the Elliots, or the Bertinellis. It is these long-standing families that are clues to the archaic social order of Gotham, and it is in this history that organizations like the Court of Owls flourish, completely unknown to the new order of Gotham.
4 Right: The Gothic Architecture Style
Gotham City is known for its iconic appearance, and its dark, gloomy demeanor. From Bruce Timm's vision of Gotham in Batman: The Animated Series to Tim Burton's art-deco metropolis in Batman (1989), the gothic style of the city has always remained intact and distinct.
Production designers working on Burton's Batman described the creative process as "wanting to make Gotham City the ugliest and bleakest city imaginable," "What New York City might be if there wasn't a planning committee." Despite Batman's best attempts to clean up his city, Gotham always looks run-down and out of its prime, always a city that needs saving.
3 Wrong: Gotham Isn't Right Next To Metropolis
Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice reintroduced Gotham City into the DCEU, establishing a conflict of interests between the Kryptonian and the Dark Knight. However, in Zack Snyder's vision, Gotham City is very close to Metropolis, only separated by Delaware Bay, making it easier for the two heroes to come into contact with each other.
Typically in the comics, Gotham City and Metropolis make up two of the largest cities in the DC Universe, with the two cities being certainly within a reasonable driving distance of each other. While the distance between them has varied over interpretations, their close proximity in Dawn of Justice certainly marked the first time they were placed so close to one another.
2 Right: That Night In Crime Alley
In almost every incarnation of Batman, there is one integral moment that is always perfectly captured: the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne. After leaving the theatre late one night, the Wayne family passed through Crime Alley on their way back and were stopped and fatally shot by Joe Chill, with their young son Bruce being the only survivor. Traumatized, Bruce would promise to avenge his parent's death, donning the cape and cowl and beginning his war on Gotham's criminals.
While the character's lore has changed over the decades, with everything from his background training to his love interests to his rogues gallery being tweaked, the one detail left untouched is his origin story. Like Bruce Wayne, writers and directors know not to forget that night in Crime Alley.
1 Wrong: Other Parts of Gotham
In the movies, Gotham City is seen as a single city. The plots of the movie only revolve around establishing the setting as Gotham, and once that is sufficiently done, the story moves past the need to establish the setting any further. So as not to take up too much screen time, the bare necessities of Gotham are established.
This means that there isn't much exposition on the other boroughs of Gotham. Like New York City (which is the source material for Gotham City), the Batman comics take the time to explore different boroughs of the city, most famously Bludhaven, or Burnside, which are home to heroes such as Nightwing and Batgirl respectively.