After The Batman by Matt Reeves was praised by critics and did well at the box office, it was reported that one of the movie’s bad guys would be getting his own TV show on HBO. That Batman bad guy was none other than Collin Farrell’s Penguin, also known as Oswald Cobblepot (or Oz for short). In the DC movie, Penguin is one of Batman’s enemies that he has to get past on his way to find The Riddler. One of the greatest parts of the Batman movie is when Batman chases him in his car through the rainy streets of Gotham.
Farrell’s performance got a lot of gratitude, and he was without a doubt one of the best parts of a movie that was full of them. Then, it was announced that The Penguin would be receiving a spin-off show of his own. So, we’ve put together all the information about the show’s story, cast, and more.
The Penguin Release Date Speculation
No one knows yet when the spinoff series of The Penguin will air on HBO Max. Variety said the show was in the early stages of planning in September 2021, but there’s no word yet on when it will go into production or even when it will be available on a streaming service. If shooting does start in 2022, the series might air on HBO Max in 2023, but that is just a guess at this point.
Colin Farrell recently talked to Comicbook.com about how far together they are in the process. “So far, the experience of maybe bringing Oz into a six- or eight-hour journey is the same; it’s really collaborative,” he said. “The writer, Lauren LeFranc, has some extraordinary ideas.
“And it’s just that it’s kind of an amazing character to explore—his kind of awkwardness, his strength, and, yes, his propensity for violence. But there’s also a heartbroken man inside there, you know, which just makes it really tasty. “I would love to do it. I won’t believe it until I’m in the suit and in Mike Marino’s makeup and I hear the action, then I’ll believe and see.”
Sarah Aubrey, the manager of original content for HBO Max, said of the series, “We are thrilled to bring audiences a new version of this iconic DC character that they have never seen before. It is incredible to be working with Matt, Dylan, and Lauren on continuing this story and to see Colin take his already exceptional performance in The Batman to the next level.”
The Penguin Cast
At the moment, there aren’t very many people in The Penguin Show. Colin Farrell will return as The Penguin and some new people will join him.
Farrell played the role in the dark superhero movie, and since The Penguin series is a spin-off of that, he is going to be the star of the show. We also are aware that the one-of-a-kind Clancy Brown will play Salvatore Maroni, the former boss of crime in Gotham.
Who is in the show “The Penguin?”
- Colin Farrell as The Penguin
- Clancy Brown as Salvatore Maroni
- Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone
- Rhenzy Feliz
- Michael Kelly
- Shohreh Aghdashloo
- Deirdre O’Connell
The Penguin Plot
In an interview with Collider, Matt Reeves said that The Penguin will pick up where The Batman left off and lead right into The Batman: Part Two. At the end of The Batman, Riddler’s big plan floods Gotham, and many places are still underwater. This puts the city in a bad position as it tries to get back on its feet and get revenge. Carmine Falcone, Gotham’s biggest crime boss, was caught by the GCPD and then killed by the Riddler.
This left the top spot in Gotham’s criminal order open. The last time we see Oswald Cobblepot, he is looking at the sunrise the morning after the flood. He is thinking about how a new kingdom will grow. People have said that The Penguin is like Scarface because Colin Farrell plays for power to take over the criminal world in this new Gotham.
In an interview with Variety, HBO Max’s head of originals, Sarah Aubrey, talked about the show’s plot:
“The goal of this is to show what Oz’s life is like, and that’s very much in the streets of Gotham, trying to get up and over as only the Penguin can. As a hustler and a strategist with his own ambitions. It is a great example of having the time over eight episodes to tell a longer-arc character story with a lot of delicious twists and turns and new characters. It’s very much going to be about Gotham at that street level because he’s not flying around like Batman does. We are all embracing that as a very specific experience for audiences to have.”
Is The Penguin a Batman spin-off?
The Penguin Show is a spin-off of Batman. It will follow the bad acts and misadventures of Oswald Cobblepot, who will be played by Collin Farrell, who also played a bad guy in The Batman movie. So, we know it will take place in Matt Reeves’s rainy Gotham. We are also aware that The Penguin will be related to Pattinson’s Batman in some way.
Who’s Making The Penguin?
The series will be made for HBO Max by Matt Reeves and his production partner Dylan Clark, who also worked on The Batman.
The show will be run by Lauren LeFranc, and Colin Farrell recently said in an interview that the writers of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Chuck will be writing all of the episodes.Craig Zobel, whose series Mare of Easttown with Kate Winslet won an Emmy, will be in charge of the first two episodes of The Penguin. Michael Marino, who was nominated for an Oscar for his amazing hair and makeup work in The Batman, will be back to do Colin Farrell’s makeup for this series.
The Penguin Trailer
We thought that, since The Penguin isn’t coming out for a while, a video wouldn’t come out for a while either. But in April 2023, HBO Max posted a sneak video that was surprisingly long and detailed. The trailer shows some behind-the-scenes shots, as well as first looks at Carmen Ejogo, Michael Kelly, and Cristin Milioti, who are all in the group.
How to watch The Penguin?
The first episode of the Penguin show will air on HBO, and it will also be accessible to watch on HBO’s online service.