'Gotham' casts 'Fringe' star Michael Cerveris as DC Comics baddie professor Pyg

Fox’s Gotham is ready to Pyg out, with the help of a Tony Award-winning Fringe vet.

Michael Cerveris, whose TV credits include Fringe (as the Observer named September), The Good Wife and Amazon’s The Tick, will bring DC Comics baddie Professor Pyg to life during Season 4, TVLine has learned exclusively.

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“Michael is one of my best friends,” Gotham executive producer Danny Cannon told TVLine during our Fall Preview Q&A. “He was in my film school graduation movie, when we were both amateurs. And now he’s joining the fold as Professor Pyg,” in a multi-episode arc.

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In comic book lore, Pyg aka Lazlo Valentin was the porcine mask-wearing, schizophrenic Circus of Strange leader whose calling cards included a small army of “Dollotrons” — victims to whom he affixed doll-like masks. If Gotham hews closely at all to the infamously deranged villain, things could get… frightful.

As Cannon told us, Season 4’s take on Scarecrow alone could break new ground for the broadcast drama: “When the studio asks you to tone back because it’s too scary, you know you’ve done something right!”

Fox’s Gotham returns Sept. 21, now airing Thursdays at 8/7c (leading into the freshman drama The Orville).

Want more scoop on Gotham, or for any other show? Email [email protected] and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line.

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