The upcoming TV collection “The Penguin” will comply with the felony enterprises of Oswald/Oz “The Penguin” Cobb (Colin Farrell), one of many extra charismatic crime bosses within the city hellhole of Gotham Metropolis. This model of the Penguin debuted in Matt Reeves’ 2022 superhero movie “The Batman,” a three-hour epic that re-envisioned Batman (Robert Pattinson) as a humorless husk and Gotham as a metropolis similar to the one seen in David Fincher’s 1995 serial killer movie “Seven.” The Penguin wasn’t the central antagonist of “The Batman,” however he was interrogated fairly sharply by Batman in a single notable scene, and he supplied plenty of persona to an in any other case dour movie.
The Penguin was realized utilizing spectacular make-up results, making Farrell appear like a totally completely different particular person. The make-up was nominated for an Academy Award. The identical make-up might be carried over into “The Penguin.”
Followers of “The Batman” puzzled if the title hero would additionally sometimes seem in “The Penguin,” provided that they exist in the identical universe. Certainly, Batman’s rogue’s gallery generally tend to congregate — “The Batman” additionally featured Catwoman, the Riddler, and the Joker — so followers is perhaps postulating if “The Penguin” may additionally function Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, or any variety of different Batman villains.
A brand new article within the newest problem of SFX Journal, nonetheless, might douse a couple of hopes. The makers of “The Penguin” have acknowledged categorically that Batman is not going to be part of the brand new present, and that they wished to forge a brand new path for the character away from the well-worn superhero. Sorry, Bat-fans, however Batman is working on his personal bat-time and on his personal bat-channel.
The bat stays within the cave for The Penguin
“The Penguin” showrunner Lauren LeFranc defined succinctly that Gotham Metropolis is an attention-grabbing sufficient place with out Batman in it, and {that a} Penguin story will operate completely nicely with out that pesky Darkish Knight flitting about. Town, she stated, “deserved to have extra doorways unlocked inside it, and for us to stroll by means of these and see what we expect.” Which is a good level. If Gotham Metropolis was constructed in such a approach that it impressed one man to be a Batman, then absolutely there are myriad different individuals making equally outlandish gestures in response to the felony underworld.
For LeFranc, it was the opposite, non-Batman individuals she wished to consider, believing that the influence can be simply as nice. As she put it:
“I perceive why individuals’s want can be to have Batman, or to assume that until Batman’s in a present or a movie then it would not have the identical punch. […] To me I believe it packs a distinct punch. Matt’s movies are by means of the lens of the Batman, so that you’re excessive up, trying down on town. It is a completely different perspective. With Oz, you are within the metropolis streets, you are within the grit and the muck and the grime. He is trying up, desirous to claw his approach to the highest.”
Matt Reeves, who serves as an government producer on “The Penguin,” additionally felt no must insert Batman right into a present the place he isn’t wanted. He stated that the present is not lacking something elementary and that audiences are going to know that is Batman’s world anyway. If audiences might settle for the TV collection “Gotham,” they’d be capable of settle for “The Penguin.” Reeves can also be relying on viewers of “The Penguin” to have seen “The Batman,” realizing that the occasions of his movie would inform the story of “The Penguin.” “The specter of all the things that occurs within the final film is there,” Reeves defined.
A second movie to function Pattinson as Batman is presently within the works and is scheduled for launch in October 2026. “The Penguin” will debut on September 19, 2024, on HBO and Max.
