Maroni May Not Have Much Time Left On 'Gotham'

Between Fish Mooney, Penguin, Falcone, and Maroni, there may be one too many mobster bad guys on the first season of Gotham. But at least, finally, all of this elaborate plotting is starting to go somewhere — when Penguin was hit by the Electrocutioner, he blurted out that he was meeting with Falcone — and if Maroni doesn't realize that he's being double-crossed, he's in for a very murder-y realization. But do the writers have the guts to kill off Maroni in Gotham Season 1?

Salvatore Maroni is one of Batman's biggest mob villains, so it would be a little disappointing to see Gotham dispense of him so quickly, since all we've really seem him do is be bested by Oswald Cobblepot every week. However, he's by far the least interesting gangster on the show so far. Even Falcone, who seemed totally done for, shocked fans by brutally murdering Liza in order to stay out of retirement, and gets to be played by Rawls from The Wire instead of Angel from Dexter.

But I refuse to believe that these twist-loving Gotham writers are going to end the season without doing something with this character. He may not die, but I think we can expect some big changes in Sal Maroni's future.

Penguin Could Shoot Him In The Next Episode

Hey, in the trailer, we begin to see Maroni putting it together, then a drawn gun and Penguin standing over Maroni with a determined look on his face. That would be an insane choice, especially because I doubt that Falcone cleared Penguin to commit this murder. Penguin's not a killer, he's a snitch.

He Could Be Assassinated & Succeeded By A Son

One workaround could be to introduce Maroni's son, Salvatore Jr., to take his place as a new villain in Season 2. It's not the most creative solution, but it was good enough for the comics — Maroni Sr. is one of the early casualties of The Long Halloween, the comic that provides the origin of Two-Face (the former Harvey Dent) and takes place back when Batman was still new to the vigilante game. We've met the young version of Dent and the next episode will have something to do with future Arkham Director Jonathan Crane.

He Could Get Busted & Go to Jail

Maroni's not criminally insane, so he'd probably go to the penitentiary rather than Arkham Asylum. But if the writers haven't considered this possibility, they're crazy. It's the perfect way to get rid of a mobster character for as many episodes as you need, then have them re-emerge when you need a new antagonist. I'm surprised, actually, that that's not what happened to Fish when Falcone found out what she had done.

Plus, Maroni has lived long enough in the comics that I don't really think they'd kill him off so quickly. While Maroni probably won't die in Gotham Season 1, there's nothing that stops him from disappearing for a while.

Images: Jessica Miglio/FOX; Giphy (2)