The most buzz network pilot now has an official green light: Fox’s Batman prequel Gotham is a firm go!

Fox announced the decision Monday as the broadcast networks head into their busiest deal-making week of the year. The network upfront presentations to advertisers start in seven days. Most of the decisions whether to renew and cancel bubble shows, as well as which pilots are getting series orders, will be made this week. Gotham stars Ben McKenzie (Southland) as a young detective James Gordon who battles an assortment of emerging villains in Gotham City. We’re told Fox’s order is for “at least” 13 episodes.

For Gotham, odds were always stacked in its favor. A live-action Batman-universe TV show will have huge awareness and a potential built-in audience. Plus, the script by The Mentalist and Rome creator Bruno Heller was very strong. You may have read earlier references online to Gotham already having a series order — it was technically a pilot order with a “series commitment,” which means Fox would have to pay a penalty if they didn’t  go to series, but it wasn’t a sure thing. We’re hearing Fox’s other pickups will be made within the next couple days and we’ll have plenty of coverage of Gotham throughout the next week.

The big challenge for Fox is marketing a Batman show that doesn’t have Batman — inGotham, Bruce Wayne is about 12 years old. ABC faced a similar challenge with this season’s Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, a superhero show where the familiar heroes were offstage. There will be plenty of villains on board, however, with origin-story versions of The Riddler, The Penguin and Catwoman all on board.

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