'Gotham' Latest Shocking Twist Ends the Joker Speculations
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Cameron Monaghan explains how he approached his character Jerome Valeska and crafted his laugh.

AceShowbiz - Since "Gotham" introduced Cameron Monaghan's Jerome Valeska in season 1, speculations spread like wildfire that he's the future Joker. His iconic laugh added with the fact that he became a full-on villain in season 2 seemed to strengthen this speculation until the Monday, October 5 episode killed this fan theory.

In a shocking twist, [SPOILER ALERT!] Jerome was killed by Theo Galavan (James Frain), who has become a father figure to Jerome, when Jerome held Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) hostage. Theo, ultimately realizing his goals could be better achieved without Jerome as a wild card, played the hero in front of the Gothamites by going off script and stabbing Jerome in the neck.

Speaking to various sites after the episode aptly titled "The Last Laugh", Monaghan explains how Jerome was described to him. "The first season, they approached me and just said, 'This is a character that is involved in the Joker mythos. He might be the Joker, he might not. We know what we're doing but we're not going to be able to tell you,' " he tells EW.

On how he approached the character, Monaghan reveals that he didn't try to imitate Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger's performances as the Joker, but admits that he was "drawing inspiration from was Mark Hamill from the animated series." He adds, "Beyond that, it was just reading every major run in the comics involving the character that I could get my hands on, looking at his face, how he's drawn, and taking what I could from that."

So why "Gotham" producers introduced the Joker mythology early on the show without really presenting the famous villain? Executive producer Danny Cannon hints that this could be the birth of many other villains inspired by the Joker laugh.

"I think the Joker isn't so much a single person as he is an ideology," Cannon says. "[He's] an idea that we can all live without fear and we can all be free and we can all not live within the world's restrictions and not live within the rules at all. This guy walks between the lines and I think that's an ideology. It's not a single person. It's a way to live your life, and I think that's what we explore."

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