Jerome (Cameron Monaghan) may have been treated as a prototype Joker in "Gotham" but early on in season 2 he was killed off. However, as stated in a report from Cinema Blend, the latest episode, "Pinewood," indicates that the character will return as a full-fledged version of the Joker from the "Batman" comic books.
As stated in the report, the episode focused primarily on Hugo Strange (B.D. Wong) as he worked on resurrecting dead people. His first attempt had failed but the sinister villain finally managed to revive Victor Fries (Nathan Darrow) and transform him into the supervillain known as Mr. Freeze.
During this sequence there is a small Easter egg where a wall was covered in graffiti. The artwork focused on a pair of eyes and the words "ha ha ha" sprawled underneath, designed to look like a smile. While Jerome may be dead, it is implied that many others have taken up inspiration from his work and this graffiti is only the latest example of such.
It is also pointed out that Hugo Strange already owns Jerome's corpse, hinting that Jerome will be experimented on in the future. However, it is speculated by many that this will not transpire immediately and that Jerome will only awaken as the Joker much later, when Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) is getting a little older.
The report speculates that the Joker's arrival will come in during the season finale, although this can be delayed even further considering that Hugo Strange also has the body of Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith). Her return is most likely going to set the events of season 3 unless she is killed off again, implying that the Joker's story will have to wait.
With only a few episodes left, it is likely they will focus more on Azrael (James Frain) before delving into other characters such as Jerome and Fish Mooney.
"Gotham" season 2 returns with episode 19 this May 2.
