'Gotham' Trailer: What We Learned From First Glimpse Into World Before Batman

The first trailer has been released for Fox's brand new Batman spin-off television series, Gotham. Starring Ben McKenzie ('The OC,' 'Southland') as legendary DC Comics character Commissioner James Gordon, the big-budget action drama will focus on the crime-riddled fictional city in the years before the caped crusader began to round up the baddies.

Ben McKenzie Takes The Lead As Jim Gordon In Fox's 'Gotham.'

The first trailer introduces McKenzie in his role as the young police detective alongside key Batman figures Poison Ivy, Penguin, Catwoman, Riddler, and a very young Bruce Wayne, AKA the future Batman himself.

Bar a few corny lines from Robin Lord Taylor's Oswald Cobblepot, AKA Penguin, the new trailer makes the series look pretty high spec and exciting. In the series, McKenzie's Gotham City Police Department Detective James Gordon is tasked with solving the murder of Bruce parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne. As a result, Gordon finds himself spending a lot of time with their son (and witness) Bruce, who, as we all know, grows up to be Batman.

Watch Fox's 'Gotham' Trailer:

Gordon's partner Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue) is introduced in all his gangster-cop stylings as well as Jada Pinkett-Smith, who plays new character and nightclub owner, Fish Mooney. The trailer shows Camren Bicondova as the young and leather-clad Selina Kyle, or Batwoman, and the bespectacled Cory Michael Smith as Edward Nygma, who becomes The Riddler.

McKenzie & Donal Logue Film 'Gotham' On Set.

A shy little girl tending to her plants is Ivy Pepper, the future Poison Ivy, who is played by Clare Foley. Last but not least we have David Mazouz, the Touch star who plays Bruce Wayne at the time in his life when his parents are torn away from him. "I promise you, I will find the man who did this," says McKenzie's Gordon after Wayne's parents have been gunned down. He adds "However dark and scary the world may be right now, there will be light."

See more photos from the 'Gotham' shoot in our gallery.

The clip shows us snatches of a city ripped apart by untethered crime, as well as Gordon being confronted by a bloody Penguin who warns "there is a war coming; a terrible war. There will be chaos, rivers of blood in the streets. I know it." Towards the end of the trailer, he is seemingly shot and thrown into the water.

'Touch' Star David Mazouz Plays The Young Bruce Wayne, AKA Batman.

We see young Bruce preparing to become the hardened superhero of his future, telling Gordon "I'm learning to conquer fear." To which the detective warns "Fear doesn't need conquering, fear tells you where the edge is."

The WBTV-produced series was picked up for a series order, as was announced on Monday. Gotham will premiere on Fox this fall.

More: Ben McKenzie producing adaptation of R.A Dickey memoir.