The announcement of FOX's Batman-adjacent 'Gotham' TV series proved a mostly-welcome surprise, though few details beyond Commissioner Gordon's central role emerged at the time. That all changes today, as we know how and when Bruce Wayne will finally don his cape, and which major Batman villains will suit up over the course of the series!

While new details are emerging fast and furious from FOX entertainment president Kevin Reilly's ongoing panel at the Television Critics Association press tour, potentially most pressing is the revelation that the network will largely bypass the traditional pilot season by ordering dramas straight to series. That doesn't yet mean that FOX's 'Gotham' has a full series order, as was initially reported, but the network has begun prepping for the series beyond the pilot all the same.

Elsewhere, Reilly revealed that the "Nolan-esque" 'Gotham' would take something of a 'Smallville' approach to its DC superhero origins, beginning its story with a 12-year-old Bruce Wayne, and ending the final episode of the series with Bruce finally donning his Batman cape. That said, 'Gotham' will also supplement its Jim Gordon focus with origin stories for famed Batman villains like the Riddler, the Penguin, the Joker and Catwoman, and potentially others.

We see Detective Gordon, before he's a commissioner, all the characters you know, Bruce Wayne, the Penguin, all of them. It's Gotham teetering on the edge, and we see what makes these characters become who they are, [like] Catwoman. It's an operatic soap that has a slightly larger-than-life quality to it.

Its pilot supposedly featuring Gordon's investigation of the murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne, the new Bat-drama will explore “the origin stories of Commissioner James Gordon and the villains that made Gotham famous,” with its pilot to be written and executive produced by ‘The Mentalist”s Bruno Heller, along with Warner Bros. Television, and directed by 'Judge Dredd' helmer Danny Cannon. It has also been confirmed that 'Gotham,’ shooting in March 2014, will not have any direct ties to Ben Affleck‘s take on the Dark Knight for ‘Batman vs. Superman.’

We'll bring you the latest on 'Gotham' as it emerges, but what say you? Are you glad Bruce Wayne will have a role in the story, even if the cape doesn't arrive until the end of the series? How would you like to see the various Bat-villains handled during Jim Gordon's tenure? Give us your thoughts on FOX's 'Gotham' in the comments!

More From KEAN 105