The Dark Knight rises once more.

Surprising absolutely no one (the original option had proven more or less straight to series to begin with), FOX has officially elected to bring the caped crusader to life once more with a series order for Batman prequel 'Gotham.'

Said to be for "at least 13 episodes" the formal pickup for 'Gotham' was considered a lock for the 2014-15 season, as the original development slate would net FOX a penalty for not taking the Batman prequel drama to series anyway. 'Gotham' marks the first formal pickup for the major networks, whose upfronts will take place next week.

FOX’s ‘Gotham’ will explore “the origin stories of Commissioner James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) and the villains that made Gotham famous,” with its pilot featuring Gordon’s investigation of the murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne. The pilot will also be written and executive produced by Bruno Heller (‘The Mentalist’), along with Warner Bros. Television, and directed by ‘Judge Dredd’ helmer Danny Cannon. It has been confirmed that ‘Gotham’ will not have any direct ties to Ben Affleck‘s take on the Dark Knight for ‘Man of Steel’ follow-up film ‘Batman vs. Superman‘ or The CW’s ‘Arrow‘ series.

Elsewhere, we’ve already seen first official looks at Robin Taylor’s Oswald Cobblepot, Sean Pertwee’s Alfred Pennyworth, Camren Bicondova’s Selina Kyle and Donal Logue’s Detective Harvey Bullock. Someday soon, we can likely expect Jada Pinkett Smith’s Fish Mooney and an official glimpse of David Mazouz as young Bruce Wayne, who himself has also already popped up on set.

Cast in other known roles thus far are Drew Powell as Mooney’s other associate Butch Gilzean, ‘Burn Notice‘ star Zabryna Guevara as Gordon’s GCPD boss Captain Essen, and Erin Richards as Gordon’s fiancée Barbara Kean. Cory Michael Smith will also appear as a young Edward Nygma, while EW claims the first trailer will drop with the premiere of '24: Live Another Day.'

Hardly surprising, but what say you? Are you excited to see Batman begin again with FOX's prequel drama 'Gotham,' now confirmed to go to series?

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