‘The Penguin’: Colin Farrell Says His New Gotham Crime Series Is “Incredibly Violent”

Expansion of Matt Reeves’ take on Batman and Gotham City finally begins later this year with the long-awaited “The Penguin.” A new Max series, “The Penguin,” centers on Colin Farrell’s Batman rogue Oz Cobb, aka Oswald Cobblepot, who takes his place within the criminal underworld following the death of mob boss Carmine Falcone (played by John Turturro in “The Batman”). The actor recently spoke in an interview with MovieZine, highlighting the mature angle of the upcoming series, which will dig deeper into Gotham’s mobsters’ hierarchy. 

“It’s dark; that’s what I can tell you about it,” the actor revealed. “It’s dark. It’s really heavy, I think— it certainly was doing it. Which is not to say I didn’t have fun, I had an amazing time doing it. It’s incredibly violent. It’s one man’s rise to what he’s always dreamed of inhabiting, which is a certain power or social status.”

“The death of Carmine Falcone at the end of [The Batman] the film leaves this vacuum in Gotham to be filled, and so there are various people that are grabbing for that power, and this is Oswald’s journey trying to rise to the top through extraordinary obstacles,” he continued.

Farrell’s Penguin wasn’t allowed to smoke in “The Batman,” a new Warner Bros. dictum around its heroes, but he’s seen chewing on cigars in photos and the recent trailer, which shows Max and WB have made further exceptions for this more adult and mature series.

Others joining Farrell will be actors such as Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz, Michael Kelly, Shohreh Aghdashloo, and Deirdre O’Connell, with Clancy Brown and Michael Zegen recurring.

READ MORE: ‘The Penguin’: Colin Farrell Cites The “Extraordinary” Make-up Work For His Villain As The Main Inspiration For The Upcoming HBO Max Spinoff

Seeing Cobb’s journey to become a more significant threat to Batman and the Gotham Police Department should be worthwhile, given that Farrell’s take on The Penguin was one of the more prominent standouts in “The Batman,” the impressive make-up helming the role become all the more immersive.

There is hope that Farrell’s Cobb will return for “The Batman Part II,” which recently saw a full-year delay as it will debut in theaters on October 2, 2026, but it’s unknown if Reeves will follow the same villains or explore new ones.

“The Penguin” makes its exclusive streaming debut this fall on Max. You can watch the brand-new trailer for the DC Comics show and that full interview with MovieZine below.