It’s a new day for the GCPD in Gotham.

After the Maniax massacre, Jerome (RIP, dude we once thought was totally The Joker) led his crew of psychotic Arkham Asylum escapees directly into the heart of the GCPD and opened fire, killing nine officers and ending Commissioner Essen’s tenure after only one week. That bloodbath, and the current opening for the leader of the GCPD, will pave the way for the arrival of Captain Barnes.

Played by the law-enforcement role alum Michael Chiklis (seriously, this guy definitely knows his way around a badge and gun!), Captain Barnes is going to represent a whole new chapter for the GCPD as they try to fight back against the “Rise of the Villains,” and Chiklis promised that his character is going to shake things up for the show in major ways.

“It’s going to be big,” Chiklis told Nerdist. “Obviously, this is the ‘Rise of the Villains,’ and the villains are really doing some damage. They’re killing everyone, and they’re crazy enough to come right into the precinct and massacre a bunch of cops including my predecessor. That’s pretty much as hardcore as it gets.”

The introduction of Captain Barnes is a direct result of that major offense.

“My character is coming in as sort of an answer to that massacre, to tip the balance back in favor of the good guys,” Chiklis said. “He’s a real law and order zealot who believes in the will of the law. As you’ll find out later on this season, his personal reasons why he’s that way will come out. We just shot a bunch of that in episode 9, all these big character reveals as to why he is so adamant about following the rule of the letter of the law. He’s intense.”

There were many factors that drew Chiklis to this role, both in regards to what he would get to do onscreen as well as the atmosphere of the set offscreen.

“I’ve really enjoyed stepping onto this show,” Chiklis shared. “Gotham is beautifully shot, it has a tremendous cast including a bunch of old friends of mine, Donal Logue, Sean Pertwee and a number of other people in the cast. It feels really natural to walk onto this set in a lot of ways. Between the cops and robbers aspect of it, the superhero stuff, it feels like slipping on a really comfortable glove that fits really well. It just felt like a natural fit for me.”

But don’t expect Captain Barnes to just be a figurehead. He’s going to find himself deep in the trenches along with Detective Jim Gordon and the other GCPD officers.

“My ribs actually hurt right now from the ass whooping we’re giving some of the villains,” Chiklis said with a laugh. “We’re doing some crazy fight scenes and I hit the deck a couple of times pretty hard. There’s going to be some fun stuff coming up. The fans are really going to dig this. I don’t want to ruin anything but this is pretty kickass.”

He continued, “We did some really big action sequences that were really fun to shoot, albeit painful. I’m literally sore from head to foot from what we shot over the past three days. I can’t stop geeking out over it. I am a fan of the comic book genre, I’m a fan of law enforcement stuff, and this is a phenomenal combination of the two.”

What are you most excited to see from Captain Barnes’ arrival on Gotham? Hit the comments below to weigh in now!

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IMAGES: Fox

Gotham airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on Fox.