'Gotham' season 2 spoilers, premiere date: Major villains to appear in the city

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It seems like a lot of Batman's major nemeses are coming over to "Gotham" season 2. 

Since the first season, it has been known that Batman's mortal enemy, The Joker, will play a big role in the next season of the superhero crime drama series. Showrunner Bruno Heller shared their plans for the character in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter early this month. 

"We're going to find out how the hell Jerome, the proto-Joker we met earlier in this season, connects with the Joker as people known him. That's the big focus of the beginning of the second season. We're going to tell the story of how the Joker came to be," Heller shared.

Jerome is portrayed by actor Cameron Monaghan. 

But the inclusion of a new villain came as a surprise. FOX Network execs confirmed early this week that Mr. Freeze will also join the show next season. 

According to CinemaBlend, the origin of Mr. Freeze began when he was a cryogenics scientist named Dr. Victor Fries who tried everything that he could to cure his terminally ill wife named Nora. The experiment did not end well, and it resulted to a condition where he had to wear a cryogenic suit to survive. 

Mr. Freeze was portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1997 film "Batman & Robin," but the actor who will bring the character on TV is still unknown. 

Aside from The Joker and Mr. Freeze, "Gotham" season 2 will also feature the other foes of the future Caped Crusader, including Clayface, The Riddler, as well as the Mad Hatter. 

In other news, "Homeland" star Morena Baccarin has been promoted to series regular in "Gotham" season 2, after her recurring character Dr. Leslie Thompkins in the first season became the love interest of Jim Gordon (Benjamin McKenzie). 

"Gotham" will have a Monday night slot when it returns next season.