Fox swoops for Gotham

US broadcast network Fox has officially taken its buzzy Batman prequel project Gotham to series.

The network is billing the show as “an origin story of the great DC Comics Super-Villains and vigilantes”. It follows James Gordon’s police career years before he met Batman and became commissioner.

A fall launch has been pencilled in, with Warner Bros. Television producing and Warner Bros. International Television Distribution handling international sales.

News of the show first surfaced last year.