Gotham (TV series) in the context of "Pennyworth (TV series)"

Smallville is an American superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produced by Millar/Gough Ink, Tollin/Robbins Productions, DC Entertainment, and Warner Bros. Television. The series follows the coming-of-age adventures of teenage Clark Kent (Tom Welling) in his fictional hometown of Smallville, Kansas, before he formally becomes the Man of Steel. The first four seasons focus on the high school life of Clark and his friends, his complicated romance with neighbor girl Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk), and his friendship with future nemesis Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum). From season five onwards, Smallville ventures into Clark's early adult years, eventually focusing on his career alongside Lois Lane (Erica Durance) at the Daily Planet and introducing other DC comic book superheroes and villains.

Before the production, Bruce Wayne, a drama series chronicling the young protagonist's journey toward Batman, was proposed first. Although that series failed to generate interest, it inspired the idea of a Superman origin story, which later became Smallville. Gotham later used that idea three years after Smallville's conclusion.

Bane is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench, and Graham Nolan, the character first appeared in Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1 (December 10, 1992). He is regarded as one of Batman’s most enduring enemies, part of the collective of adversaries that make up Batman's rogues gallery. In his comic book appearances, Bane is an international criminal with a combination of brute strength and exceptional intelligence. Born and raised in the Peña Duro prison on the Caribbean island of Santa Prisca, where he served a life sentence for his father King Snake's revolutionary activities, Bane becomes a test subject for the super-steroid known as "Venom". After escaping from the prison, Bane travels to Gotham City, where he defeats Batman and breaks the superhero's back. This event is commonly referred to as "Breaking the Bat", and Bane is often regarded as one of the few villains to have significantly challenged Batman both physically and mentally.

The character has been adapted in various media incarnations, portrayed in film by Robert Swenson in the 1997 film Batman & Robin, and by Tom Hardy in the 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises. In television, Bane was portrayed by Shane West in the Fox series Gotham. Henry Silva, Héctor Elizondo, Danny Trejo, Fred Tatasciore, JB Blanc, and others have provided Bane's voice in animation and video games. IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time ranked Bane as #34.

Salvatore Vincent Maroni is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Batman. The substantial character is portrayed as a powerful mob boss and gangster of Italian descent in Gotham City and an enemy of Batman. Maroni is most famous for disfiguring Harvey Dent, setting the stage for the young district attorney's transformation into the supervillain Two-Face.

In live-action, Maroni has appeared in the film The Dark Knight (2008), portrayed by Eric Roberts, the TV series Gotham (2014), portrayed by David Zayas, and the HBO miniseries The Penguin (2024), portrayed by Clancy Brown.

Bradley Darryl Wong (born October 24, 1960) is an American actor. Wong won a Tony Award for his performance as Song Liling in M. Butterfly, becoming the only actor in Broadway history to receive the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Clarence Derwent Award, and Theatre World Award for the same role. For his role as Whiterose in the television series Mr. Robot, he was nominated for both a Critic's Choice Television Award and an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

Wong is known for such roles as Howard Weinstein in the film Father of the Bride, Dr. George Huang on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Father Ray Mukada on Oz, Dr. John Lee on Awake, Dr. Henry Wu in the Jurassic Park franchise, Hugo Strange in Gotham, and Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme in the film Seven Years in Tibet. Wong is the host of the HLN medical documentary series Something's Killing Me with BD Wong. He has also done extensive voiceover work and stage acting. Wong voiced Captain Li Shang in the Disney animated film Mulan as well as its 2004 direct-to-video sequel, Mulan II, and the 2005 video game Kingdom Hearts II.