SPOILER WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for tonight's episode of "Gotham," "The Last Laugh."


Well, so much for that theory.

Despite the months long set-up leading into the show's second season -- including an appearance at San Diego Comic-Con by actor Cameron Monaghan and trailers building up Monaghan's Jerome as one of the season's biggest bads -- the third episode of this season of "Gotham" ended fan speculation surrounding Jerome ultimately becoming the Dark Knight's greatest foe, the Joker, with a literal knife to the throat.

However, as series executive producer Bruno Heller revealed in an interview with Deadline, Jerome's death does tie directly into the sinister and sadistic Batman foe's origin.

"The creation of the Joker is a larger and more epic story than people realize, and this show is very much about kind of the deep, secret history," Heller told Deadline. "So, as the show rolls on, people will see how a mythology is born, how a kind of cultural mien is created that will lead us to the Joker himself."

Indeed, Jerome's psychotic and chaotic behavior -- and death -- inspires a number of Gothamites, as seen during the episode's conclusion.

"When the Joker appears, he is an inevitable part of the history of Gotham," Heller continued. "He's not someone who created himself out of nothing. He's part of a whole cultural history, a whole tradition. I know that sounds kind of highfalutin, but that's what the twist is about."

Heller goes on to explain that he wants the Joker's origin to play out as a bigger and more complicated story than his comic book origins -- which have varied many times throughout the character's 75-year long existence -- specifically saying that "sometimes backstories are more complicated and interesting than, you know, falling into vat of toxic chemicals or being bitten by a spider."

The EP also confirmed that they have not cast an actual Joker yet. In fact, whether the Joker even appears or not has not been officially confirmed. How the fans react to this -- especially die-hard comic fans -- remains to be seen, but the show hasn't shied away from doing it's own take on the Batman mythos and this new origin for the Joker follows suit on that approach. Heller admits that getting to explore -- and in a certain respect create your own version -- of this world and its characters is one of the appeals of the show.

"The beauty of this world is there are so many stories to tell, and there's so many wonderful characters. Wonderful characters we haven't even begun to introduce -- it's a world that is infinitely expandable. So we're going to see Mr. Freeze this season. We're going to meet Dr. Hugo Strange. We're going to meet Firefly. And there's several other surprises that I want to keep as surprises."

Check out the full interview for more and check out new episodes of "Gotham" Mondays on Fox.