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Gotham: What’s Next For the Riddler After His Shocking First Kill?!

Cory Michael Smith dishes on Edward Nygma's sudden descent into his future DC Comics villainous alter ego

By Sydney Bucksbaum Apr 24, 2015 4:00 PMTags
Gotham, RiddlerFOX

Well...that escalated quickly.

We always knew that Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith) would turn into one of the biggest, scariest, and craziest supervillains from DC Comics eventually on Gotham...but we had no idea it would happen so soon!

All throughout the Fox hit show's first season, Edward has been enthusiastic in his work at the GCPD, cracking smiles and jokes like you wouldn't believe, seemingly as innocent as a nerdy little puppy dog. And he even had a crush on Kristen Kringle (Chelsea Spack), the cute records room attendant who worked with him in the GCPD!

But all that changed in one major moment during this week's dark and intense episode of Gotham, when Edward stood up to his crush's boyfriend...and their confrontation ended with bloody, chilling results.

That first kill is the spark that Ed needed to begin his sudden transformation into the supervillain we all know he will ultimately become: The Riddler.

"Ed's first kill! When I read it, I was extremely excited to finally have Ed break this barrier into becoming another person," Smith says. "Edward unintentionally ends up stabbing Kristen's boyfriend. The rage that he feels for this man, it unlocks it. There's no going back from that first stab. And so he just kind of loses it."

So what's coming next for Ed now that's unlocked this darker side of himself? E! News has an exclusive first look at this next chapter in Ed's life, with insight from Smith himself! Press play on the exclusive first look video above now to find out where this major life moment leaves Gotham's newest villain.

Gotham airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on Fox.