If I were to ask you to picture the Riddler, what would come to mind? Jim Carrey with a shock of red hair and a domino mask, prancing about in a skintight, emerald leotard emblazoned with black question marks? The bowler hat-sporting, cane-wielding, purple-gloved goof from Batman: The Animated Series? While both of those are fine examples of one of Batman’s craftiest criminal foes, they pale in comparison to Cory Michael Smith’s portrayal of the man known as Edward Nygma on Gotham.
As Nygma, Smith brings an air of cunning menace to the role, giving us an unnerving look at a man who embraces his dark side with wordplay and wild fits of violence. Over the course of the series, the cheeky forensic scientist has gone down a decidedly dark path that put him on the wrong side of the law, and more importantly the wrong side of Jim Gordon. Though the character is currently cooling his heels in Arkham Asylum, Cory Michael Smith is a free man, and he exercised that freedom by coming to hang with us on the set of Nerdist News. While Smith was in studio, we talked to him about Nygma’s descent into abject villainy, what we can expect from this season, and even asked him some of your Twitter questions!
And in case you missed it, here is the insane trailer for the second half of Gotham season three.
Gotham airs Mondays on Fox at 8/7c.
What do you think will happen next on Gotham? What would you like to see Nygma do on the show? Let us know in the comments below.
Dan Casey is the senior editor of Nerdist and the author of books about Star Wars and the Avengers. Follow him on Twitter (@Osteoferocious) and ask him a riddle.
