Actor Ben McKenzie has been cast in the lead role of detective Jim Gordon in Fox’s Gotham TV series.

McKenzie is known mostly for his work on Southland and The O.C., but now he’ll be playing the detective made famous by the Batman films, Jim Gordon.

He has some experience as a policeman in Southland, so we imagine he’ll slide right into playing detective James Gordon. McKenzie released a few tweets confirming his involvement, with a vote of confidence from revered DC comics writer Geoff Johns:

There are reports that the network has a series commitment and are “expected to go to series as the project is a priority for the network, and the pilot has a series penalty behind it.”

Fox executive Kevin Reilly was recently asked how Gotham was going to be marketed, since it’s a Batman television show without Batman. He revealed that Batman will be in the TV show, but as a young boy.

Reilly said, “Batman is in it, as young Bruce Wayne. This is an origin story. This is what I love about it. This is not like some of the things where you’ve bought a franchise, but then you have a bunch of characters no one’s ever heard of, or an offshoot that we make up. This is all of the classic Batman characters, with a young Bruce Wayne, with Detective Gordon before he’s Commissioner Gordon, with the Penguin, with the Riddler, and with the Joker.”

He also talked about how the finale episode could play out, saying, “All of those characters are going to arc and become who they are. I’ve read the script. It’s really good. It’s going to be this operatic soap that has a slightly larger-than-life quality. And we will arc a young Bruce Wayne from a child into the final episode of the series, when he will put on the cape.”

When asked how the show begins, Reilly answered that they’re playing with the casting currently. Bruce Wayne is a “young boy,” but his guess would be that the character would be around 12. Now that McKenzie has been cast, we know that it will take place when Gordon is in his late 20’s.

Related: Fox lands Gotham TV series featuring Batman’s detective James Gordon

Director Danny Cannon has signed on to direct the pilot. He’s been a director and producer on the TV show Nikita, as well as many of the CSI TV shows. He’s an interesting choice, and we look forward to seeing how the pilot plays out now that Gordon has been cast.

Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, detective James Gordon first appeared in the very first Batman comic in 1939. His most famous portrayal is of course in director Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, where he was played by Gary Oldman.

There hasn’t been a TV show based around any Batman characters in years, so we’re excited to see an original take on the Gordon character.

What do Batman fans think of McKenzie taking on the lead role of detective Jim Gordon?

Thanks, Deadline.