Gotham is a dark and ominous metropolis populated with all types of evil. Because of all the craziness that the dark alleys and lonely passageways have to offer, it is a location where evil thrives. The villain we will be discussing today is none other than Carmine Falcone, a mob boss who has left an indelible stamp on Batman legend, whether in the pages of DC Comics or on the big screen.
At one point, Carmine Falcone was the most powerful man in Gotham, and his crime syndicate got under Wayne’s skin like no other. Falcone was first presented in a four-part story titled Batman: Year One, created by David Mazzucchelli and Frank Miller, in 1987. His role was most recently seen in the film The Batman, which paid credit to the character’s complicated and gritty nature.
Becoming a notorious mobster
Carmine Falcone is everything you would expect a mob boss to be like, slicked-back hair, mafia mustache, crisp suit, and a liking for gold and the finer things in life. However, his journey to make it to the top plays an important role in how the character was fashioned.
Carmine Falcone was the son of mobster Vincent Falcone thus; from a very young age, he was involved in a life of high-profile criminal activity since that was practically the family business. However, a life like this comes with its own risks and Carmine was wounded by a bullet fired by rival mobster Luigi “Big Lou” Maroni when he was only a young boy. Vincent transported Carmine to Wayne Manor since he had enemies all throughout Gotham, and that was the only secure space in the city.
There, Dr. Thomas Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth saved his life because the Falcones were a friend of the Wayne family. Vincent believed himself indebted to Thomas as a result of this encounter. Thus began the tumultuous relationship that would get even more complicated between the Falcones and the Waynes. In fact, after the passing of Thomas Wayne, Falcone actually took care of Bruce and adored him even. But that would always backfire because he would end up telling Bruce information that would help him fight crime as Batman.
Carmine then got married to a woman named Louisa at some point post the incident. They had a daughter named Sofia and then another daughter after that. Vincent however persuaded his men to murder the second-born daughter because he thought she was a weakness and a liability. However, Louisa, out of motherly love persuaded his henchman Milos to put the girl up for adoption in Gotham instead of killing her. This girl grew up to be none other than Selina Kyle herself, further complicating Batman’s altercations with Falcone and hers as well.
The Falcons subsequently defeated their rival, the Maronis, who also wanted to rule the city and took control of Gotham. Carmine took over as the family’s new leader after Vincent’s demise thus inheriting it fair and square from his father. At some point, Carmine and Louisa were blessed with two more children, sons this time – Mario and Alberto Falcone, the younger of whom Carmine preferred to keep out of the family business for his own protection.
Carmine slowly became Gotham’s most formidable don even though he used to operate out of the front of an Italian shoe importing business – which was quite clever if you ask me. Having amassed insane amounts of money, he had everyone from cops to judges on his payroll, practically having the entirety of Gotham’s justice system eating out of his hands. He was called “The Roman” for his intelligence, strategic genius, and Italian lineage – the Godfather of Gotham if you will.
Falcone in Nolanverse
Carmine Falcone has been portrayed in multiple different forms across types of media due to the sheer brilliance and dangerous charm of the character. One of the most famous portrayals of Carmine Falcone was done by the brilliant Tom Wilkinson in the 2005 movie, Batman begins, directed by none other than Christopher Nolan. Wilkinson fit the character right down to the T and exuded the aura of a dangerous crime boss who is aware that the entire city is in his pocket and no one can touch him.
In the storyline of Batman Begins, Gotham is practically shown to be Falcone’s personal playground. His syndicate was built on drugs and crime and because no one had the power nor the audacity to stand up to him, he filled the city with both. The reason he was so untouchable was the enormous wealth that he possessed and used, to buy off everyone that he thought had the ability to hinder his operations, starting from cops, all the way to judges. With the entirety of law enforcement in his pocket, he had nothing to worry about until Batman showed up.
It is said in the movie that he shared a cell with the man who had killed Batman’s parents, Bruce and Martha Wayne – Joe chill. However, he also orchestrated the murder of Joe Chill by hiring a female agent, while inside the prison because Chill had threated to testify against Falcone. This robbed Bruce Wayne of the opportunity of getting even with his parent’s killer.
In one of the earlier scenes of the movie, Bruce confronts Falcone in an underground establishment and tells him that he isn’t afraid of him and that people like that exist however, Falcone thought that they were just empty words from a young boy and had his henchmen beat him up, threatening to kill him. Little did he know that his syndicate and his behavior towards Bruce would be the trigger that would give to the world, The Dark Knight. Thus, Carmine Falcone was practically the catalyst for Bruce Wayne to take up the mantle of the Caped Crusader, Batman.
Years after this fated meeting between the two, Falcone was still up to his criminal activities and had teamed up with Ra’s al Ghul and Jonathan Crane, psychiatrist of the Arkham Asylum, otherwise known as Scarecrow. They were smuggling fear toxin into Gotham using toy rabbits and in exchange for the fear toxin, Crane would declare all of Falcone’s arrested henchmen as clinically insane so that they would not have to serve any jail time.
However, Batman caught up to this racket and was the one to stop it and bring Falcone down. Not only did he humiliate Falcone by leaving him tied to a searchlight but he also ensured that Falcone was convicted and served time for his crimes.
Things went horribly wrong for Falcone in prison where his former partner, Crane gassed him with Fear Toxin and left him in a state of insane psychosis, chained to a cell. A terrible ending for a man who once commanded so much power.
Some exclusive comic book versions of Falcone that you must explore
There is a wide variety of story arcs that Falcone appears in and some of the comic book versions will really make your jaw drop.
Selina Kyle or Catwoman was Falcone’s estranged daughter who his father, Vincent Falcone had tried to kill. She grew up in the filth of Gotham but always hated her father for abandoning her and, for all the havoc he caused in people’s lives due to the fear and violence he had spread all over Gotham City. Well, in Batman: Year One Issue #3, Catwoman tried to rob Falcone, but she was caught. She managed to scratch the villain, however, while fighting him and his goons. This is how he ends up with a lifelong scar on his face. This is the original Falcone storyline written over three decades ago. However, a more interesting version appears later.
Catwoman: When In Rome #1 also reveals that Falcone is her father, but this occurs after the mob boss has died. Falcone is shown on the pages of the comic as the prototypical mobster, who is immoral and enjoys the pleasures of nightlife. As a result, it is quite believable that he would have a daughter that he was unaware of.
Two-face is another staple villain in Gotham City, recognized most often because of his scarred face and penchant for going up against Batman. Falcone’s body was dug up and taken from his grave in Batman: Dark Victory #1. The robbers hacked off his finger and sent it as a message to his daughter, Sofia Gigante. However, we get to know later that Two-Face had actually stolen the body and possessed the body, and was storing it in Mr. Freeze’s cryogenic chamber.
There are a lot of crime lords in Gotham, and they all want to be known as the best, thus leaving Gotham in such a state where there is a perpetual struggle for the top spot in the underworld. Despite the fact that Falcone’s death opens the door for a new prominent crime figure, Sofia’s ascension precludes this. Two-Face believes that intimidating Sofia is the best way to prevent her from becoming another of DC Comics’ top crime lords.
Lastly, one of the comic book story arcs I find most interesting is how all of Gotham’s deranged villains had to team up to take down the brilliant and formidable crime boss, Carmine Falcone. Falcone returns home to discover Two-Face, The Joker, The Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy, Solomon Grundy, The Scarecrow, and The Penguin waiting for him as his empire falls apart in The Long Halloween.
Two-Face shoots him to death in this book and while the team-up is shocking, it is expected given the mob’s lack of respect for Gotham’s crazy criminals, whom they described as too unpredictable. Because Falcone has the capacity to re-establish his kingdom, it made perfect sense for Two-Face and his associates to assassinate him. Regrettably, this development threw Gotham into even more disarray.
Falcone was a very important character in the Gotham TV series as well
In the Gotham tv series, we see a completely different story of Falcone’s life. This time around, the estranged daughter looking for revenge is not Selina Kyle but instead, is Sofia Falcone, his treasured elder daughter herself. He still is a formidable crime boss who has immense power. He closes business deals and makes power plays with regard to profit as he competes with other criminals and mafia families to stay on top. However, we also see his power slipping as he grasps for straws in a new era of Gotham.
Although we see an accomplished and cunning mafia boss, Carmine decided to leave the criminal underworld after the Penguin triggered a gang war between his and Maroni’s mafia families. He experienced an extremely close assassination attempt only to find out that Penguin, someone he had considered a trusted partner had betrayed him. In fact, after he left the city, Penguin took over as the major leader in the crime syndicate in Gotham and established the Cobblepot Crime Family.
However, even after he left, he came back for major events that concerned his family but due to the fact that he was highly wanted in Gotham by other criminals who wanted to take him down and put an end to any possibility of The Roman, returning. This resulted in attempts on his life that used to routinely take place whenever he came to Gotham. He finally came back to Gotham for the wedding of his son Mario and Lee or Leslie Thompkins, but only for a brief time as he was always under attack.
However, as usual, every positive event often gets clouded with darkness in Gotham and Carmine craved revenge when his son Mario was infected with the Tetch virus and was then murdered by James Gordon, law enforcement officer and ex-lover of Lee. This largely happened because Gordon was still in love with Lee and was afraid that Mario would kill her out of suspicion. He followed them and when he found the newlywed couple, he shot Mario dead to prevent him from killing Lee as he was poised to stab her, in a jealous rage.
To take revenge on Gordon, Falcone dispatched Victor Zsasz, the famed erratic serial killer of Gotham to assassinate Gordon. However, Carmine finally called off the attack and went into retirement at Lee’s request. It is important to note here that Falcone did care a lot for Lee and had in fact walked Lee down the aisle during Mario and her wedding.
Falcone then relocated to Miami after his doctors informed him that he was dying of unknown causes, giving him more time and allowing him to be closer to his daughter Sofia. Sofia would then go on to betray him, making it an unfortunate run for him as far as his family life and relationship with his children were concerned.
Later in the season, Carmine declined to help James Gordon win back Gotham City from reigning criminal lord Oswald Cobblepot when he headed down south to convince Don Falcone. There were multiple reasons as to why – firstly, he found it tough to help the man who had murdered his son. Secondly, he did not want to get dragged back into the quicksand of the Gotham criminal underworld which he knew would suck him.
Even though he did not go to help out James, Sofia relented and joined Jim back in Gotham city despite her father’s wishes. Although he had declared that he would not return to Gotham, Don Falcone received a phone call from Penguin a few weeks later, notifying him of the gang war that had flared up between the Cobblepot crime family and Sofia, prompting Carmine to travel to the city and restore his daughter to the south, as she was about to lose. He thus struck a deal with Penguin to come and deal with his son.
Sofia then had her father murdered and accused Penguin of it when Carmine labeled her an embarrassment to the Falcone lineage. This incident took place at the Falcone Manor where Carmine had come to meet with his daughter. As the events unfolded, a black van rocked up at the venue and started firing on Carmine which led to his death.
Even in death, he was remembered and left behind an unparalleled legacy. Don Falcone’s funeral was held in the very same church where his son Mario had married Lee Thompkins the year before. There were many mourners in attendance, including Penguin and Victor Zsasz, the latter of whom was deeply moved by the passing of his long-time crime boss.
Sofia Falcone, Carmine’s sole daughter, and a surviving Falcone family relative, had determined to reestablish the Falcone name in her father’s honor. Despite successfully ousting Penguin, her rule as crime boss came to an end when she was gunned down by Lee Thompkins and placed in a coma, effectively terminating her reign for the time being. This goes on to show that Falcone had an immense influence and effect on people in Gotham, criminals and civilians alike.
Falcone impressed in the new Batman movie starring Robert Pattinson as Batman!
The Batman was released earlier this year and has quickly amassed a large following as a stellar Batman film, both when it came to the portrayal of various characters, especially that of The Dark Knight himself by Robert Pattinson and the grittiness of the entire film. However, one villain that did make an unexpected appearance in the movie was none other than Carmine Falcone!
In this movie, the Riddler was a serial killer who was hunting out Gotham’s elite in order to expose their hypocrisy. Catwoman appears to be an ally to Batman, but as has been the case throughout her past relationship with the Bat, she brings her own host of problems and through his nightclub, Penguin rubs shoulders with some of Gotham’s most ruthless villains.
There are, however, plenty of crooks who keep a low profile, which is where Carmine Falcone comes in. Given his penchant for illicit activities, one of the film’s major turns is all the more surprising as it involves Falcone effectively ratting out another member of the crime syndicate so that he could cement his own position – no honor among thieves clearly.
Thus, Riddler sets out to expose a major conspiracy in which Gotham’s most powerful elite used monies from the Wayne Foundation, specifically the Renewal project, which allocated $1 billion annually to benefit Gothamites, to fill their own pockets in “The Batman.” However, there’s a rat among them, and Riddler demands this person to come forward and pay for their crimes. Knowing that this rat was going to be the next Riddler victim, Batman and Jim Gordon set out to find him.
Falcone had served as a high-level informant for the GCPD in order to bring down Sal Maroni’s drug-trafficking ring. Falcone established his own affiliates and then provided information to the authorities about them, prompting the GCPD to raid and arrest Sal Maroni. Falcone was left as Gotham’s kingpin after this, working with the Gotham government to maintain drug trafficking activities while governing the city from the shadows. However, this also made him a rat.
With respect to this covert operation of offering up Maroni’s secrets, Batman and the others had a few ideas at first regarding who had snitched on Maroni. However, all they had to go on was the Spanish phrase “rata Canada,” which loosely translates to “winged rat.” At first, Batman believes that the rat is Penguin because a penguin is a bird with wings. Penguin, on the other hand, seems unconcerned. Since a bat might be mistaken for a rat with wings, he wonders whether he’s somehow involved in this scheme. But that’s when he finally notices that “Falcone” contains the word “falcon” right in the name, making him the snitch.
Carmine Falcone doesn’t get a lot of screen time in “The Batman,” but when he does, he makes the most of it. It’s a fantastic match for his demeanor. He smartly maintains a low profile and avoids the public spotlight as much as possible, so that he can be a more effective crime boss. However, he is not only the film’s rat but also Selina Kyle’s father. Many fans were probably expecting this, as it has been mentioned in the comics, and confrontations regarding their relationships have happened before in the comic books. In “The Long Halloween” and its sequel, Catwoman assumes she is Falcone’s daughter, and their connection is alluded to.
The dynamic, on the other hand, differs from what we see in the movie. Carmine Falcone is Catwoman’s father, according to official documents, but he is utterly oblivious of her existence. When she presents herself to him and mentions Maria Kyle to his face, he discovers the truth about her. In the comics, Selina Kyle is happy with letting Falcone live on multiple accounts, but in “The Batman,” she’s out for blood as both her mother, Maria, and her roommate and friend, Annika, had died at the hands of Falcone. However, misses her chance for vengeance when Batman enters the picture and convinces her to stop before she does something she’ll regret. She also scratches him in the face during an altercation, giving him his defining scars.
Although it’s not the first time Carmine Falcone has starred in a live-action film, Matt Reeves and his team have created a scary mobster unlike any other.
Batman: Year One and Batman: The Long Halloween – Animated Films
Falcone has also appeared in Both Batman: Year One and Batman: The Long Halloween, which are animated films based on comic books of the same name. This further shows the diversity of his character and the number of Batman media in which Carmine Falcone has played a pivotal role in.
In Batman: Year One, we see Carmine Falcone at the heights of his power as he wines and dines with the elites of the city, only for him to fall under Batman’s radar as Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham city and decides to fight crime. Batman becomes determined to take down the forces of corruption and criminal activity in the city and who better to target than the kingpin of it all himself? This leads to multiple altercations between the two including the humiliating incident where Batman stripped Falcone and hogtied him. The fall of Falcone was imminent.
In Batman: The Long Halloween, the plot revolved around a serial murderer named Holiday who was targeting Gotham’s crime families, with the Falcone family receiving special attention. While battling the criminal justice system that was breathing down his neck and the new threat of Holiday, Falcone was urgently trying to get a grasp on his once-powerful enterprise, and he turned to recruit “freaks” to do his dirty work. While Falcone had an important role in The Long Halloween, he was ultimately assassinated by Two-Face, who shot him in the head, killing him.
What makes him such a stylish enemy
Carmine Falcone was modeled on Marlon Brando’s Don Vito Corleone from the Godfather film series. His name in fact, is an homage to the film, as the Falcons are a crime family in the film. With this in mind, no doubt he was a suave and stylish enemy.
Granted that he did not have crazy superpowers or an erratic persona like many Gotham villains but his cunning mind made him an unstoppable machine in Gotham’s crime syndicate. He orchestrated multiple conspiracies and assassinations and worked efficiently behind the scenes, oftentimes not just owning all of Gotham’s law enforcement but effectively, being Gotham’s law enforcement itself.
He had enough money to go around and lived a lavish and classy lifestyle which was reflected in the way that he dressed and presented himself. He is far removed from the violent and insane Gotham villains we are used to like the Joker or Riddler and instead is calculated, cunning, smart, and knows how to efficiently tug on the strings of people like a seasoned puppet-master.
It is also widely known that Falcone was feared not just because of his direct influence, but also because of his reputation for pursuing family members of those who dared to question his authority. Thus, he was stylish and deadly, definitely not someone you would like to cross.
Carmine Falcone is easily one of the most known and recognized villains in Gotham city and all throughout the Batman mythos. It is not just his razor-sharp wit and intelligence but also, his up and down relationship with the Wayne family and Catwoman that makes him a person of interest and allows for him to be reimagined multiple times and in many different ways.
We have seen various depictions of him and it never gets old because who doesn’t love a slick, smart, suave crime boss in the underbelly of one of the world’s most notoriously crime-infested cities. Do you think he stacks up to the rest of the infamous villains we have seen emerge from Gotham? Let us know in the comments section below!