Hot off his scene-stealing performance in this weekend’s $258-million global hit The Batman, Colin Farrell’s Penguin is finally moving up the ranks in the first officially greenlit follow-up project to the Matt Reeves film. Describe as a “limited series,” The Penguin (which is a working title and could change) has been given a straight-to-series order by HBO Max.
Starring Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot, The Penguin will expand upon the world that Reeves created for the film, centering on the classic Bat-villain, who was reimagined as more of a traditional crime boss in The Batman . The series will be executive produced by Matt Reeves, Dylan Clark, Collin Farrell and Lauren LeFranc, who will serve as writer and showrunner for the series. The Penguin will be produced by Reeves’ 6th & Idaho Productions and Dylan Clark Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. 6th & Idaho’s Daniel Pipski and Adam Kassan will also serve as executive producers, with Rafi Crohn as co-executive producer.
How cool is this? The Penguin was the breakout character in The Batman for me and his corner of Matt Reeves’ Gotham is definitely ripe to be explored. I’d love to see a full-on Godfather-style mob story told through a superhero filter. I think that would be wild.
I do think that would be fun to see! That was one thing I liked with the idea of the Invisible Mafia in the recent Superman comics, being very careful to operate when Superman was out of Metropolis. Organized crime operating in a world of superheroes would be very different. Although if you’re just smuggling things and running numbers at the same time Joker is trying to poison the entire city and Killer Croc is eating people, you might be able to get away with a lot.
When it was first rumored that a Penguin series was being kicked around, I thought “…Really?” But after seeing the movie and the way Reeves sets up this world as well as Farrell’s performance, I’m definitely down for anything in this universe.
I am curious as to how what the time period will be for the series and, maybe most important, how much Farrell will be in make-up for this series. I remember hearing they streamlined the application process down to two hours in prep for this series, but I could imagine them going for a younger Oz for most of the series.
Also, I can’t help but think this isn’t the only announcement coming out this week, as the rataalada site is loading up to something right now.
Considering how much of a hit Farrell’s Penguin has been w/ critics and most fans, I’d say this is still warranted. I know I’m excited for this and I think it’s safe to say the majority of people who liked the movie are also looking forward to seeing more of him
Penguin would be the last thing to ever cross my mind for a new DC show. This just feels like more proof of how out of touch Warner Brothers are with their current fan base. Hope you enjoy the show either way
James Gunn brought up an excellent point about this sort of mentality last month. I’m certainly not saying the fans should never get a voice, but we also need to allow writers/directors to tell the stories they want as well. Obviously this doesn’t mean Penguin will be a masterpiece or as good as Peacemaker, but Reeves really delivered w/ The Batman, and so w/ this being 1 of the next stories he wants to tell in this new universe, I trust him to continue delivering
Yeah, but penguin?! Why not Jonah Hex, Spectre, the Question, Lobo, Deathstroke, etc. Why not give some shine to characters who truly deserve it? No wonder people keep complaining about “too much Batman.” DC doesn’t care about making their other IP’s more prominent. Smdh
But you’re right though. As long as people keep pouring that money, WB will keep supplying them with the same or inferior products over and over. The laws of supply and demand at work. No point in complaining when they’re the ones who made Batman so popular in the first place.
I’m hoping the title is something like The Penguin Pecks Again, but that probably won’t be it.
