The 2014 television series Gotham featured several adaptations of iconic Batman villains, menacing Gotham City years before the Caped Crusader ever emerged to fight them. While some of these villains -- such as Cameron Monaghan's take on the Joker -- were acclaimed by fans and critics, several others were criticized for squandered potential. Unfortunately, one of the biggest victims of wasted potential is Gotham's take on the iconic Batman foe Mr. Freeze, who was portrayed by Nathan Darrow.

In the comic book source material, Victor Fries is a brilliant scientist whose wife Nora has a terminal illness. Fries begins to perform numerous cryogenic experiments to find a way to cure Nora, only to end up involved in an accident that drastically lowers his core body temperature. Forced to wear a suit that keeps him at sub-zero temperatures, Victor adopts the name "Mr. Freeze" and becomes one of Gotham City's most notorious villains, all for the sake of finding a cure for Nora.

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Gotham Mr Freeze Original Suit

Gotham introduces Mr. Freeze in Season 2, and his depiction starts off very comic book-accurate. The show's version of Victor Fries is still a cryogenic engineer whose wife has a terminal illness, so he turns to crime to help her. In particular, Victor begins to abduct random citizens using his freeze gun in order to use them for experiments. Unfortunately, things begin to take a turn for the worse after Victor's robbery of a pharmacy attracts the attention of the Gotham Police Department.

While on the run from the police, Fries learns that he has finally found a successful formula, so he heads to Arkham Asylum to look for his wife. With Hugo Strange's help, he locates her, but Nora is incredibly distressed when she sees what a monster Victor has turned into. In a massive twist from the comics, Nora allows herself to die. This causes Victor to attempt suicide by freezing himself, giving him his incredibly low body temperature from the comics.

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Gotham Fish Mooney Firefly Mr Freeze

Victor ends up being saved by Hugo Strange, who gives him his famous suit and uses him as little more than a glorified hitman. Following Strange's defeat, Mr. Freeze partners with a number of fellow villains, including Penguin, Poison Ivy, Firefly and Fish Mooney. He ends up joining Jerome Valeska's Legion of Horribles, and even manages to take over a sector of Gotham City during the No Man's Land event.

The biggest mistake that Gotham makes with Mr. Freeze is its permanent killing of Nora Fries. This completely takes away the thing that is essentially Victor's only motivation, leaving him with nothing to do besides acting as a thug for other villains like Penguin and Fish. Mr. Freeze is one of Batman's most emotionally complex villains, and to reduce him to a common henchman feels like a bit of a disservice to the character. The cold-hearted villain deserves better.

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