What good is "Gotham" without Batman? Sure, Bruce Wayne is on the new Fox series, but as a young child, not as an impossibly well-trained crime fighter. What's the point of tuning into a weekly show set in Gotham City when the Caped Crusader isn't even in the picture yet?

Apparently, the Penguin is the point.

To hear the cast of "Gotham" tell it, actor Robin Lord Taylor's turn as Oswald Cobblepot, the criminal who will one day become the infamous Batman villain, is poised to be the show's breakout performance.

"The Penguin is a phenomenal, phenomenal character," Ben McKenzie, who plays rookie cop James Gordon on "Gotham," told MTV. Donal Logue, McKenzie's co-star and on-screen partner as detective Harvey Bullock, shares the sentiment, saying, "Robin Lord Taylor, I think his performance is pretty remarkable."

When "Gotham" begins, Oswald Cobblepot isn't the all-powerful crime lord he's destined to become. He works for a different boss, the awesomely named Fish Mooney, played by Jada Pinkett-Smith. On names alone, fish and penguins don't seem like natural allies — is it a sign that the Penguin is coming after Mooney's job?

"I think so, I really do," said Pinkett-Smith. "You know, he works under Fish right now, but I have a feeling he's coming for me."

Even Taylor thinks that Oswald has his eye on making sure that Fish swims with the fishes. "With a boss like Fish Mooney, you're always striving for bigger things."

See what else the "Gotham" cast had to say about Taylor's turn as the Penguin:

"Gotham" premieres on Fox in the fall.