Though many critics thought another Batman reboot would be overkill, filmmaker Matt Reeves largely silenced early detractors with his moody and atmospheric “The Batman” (2022), which starred Robert Pattinson. As we eagerly await “The Batman—Part II,” Reeves will flesh out his vision for Gotham City with “The Batman” spinoff series “The Penguin.” Focusing on the crime villain Oz Cobb, aka The Penguin (played by Colin Farrell), the series is set in the aftermath of a power vacuum in the crime-ridden megalopolis of Gotham created by the death of crime boss Carmine Falcone (played by John Turturro in Reeves’ first film). Max (formerly HBO Max) has now released a new trailer for the series, giving us a better idea of what to look forward to in the latest comic book crime series.
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Joining Farrell in “The Penguin” will be an ensemble of actors such as Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz, Michael Kelly, Shohreh Aghdashloo, and Deirdre O’Connell, with Clancy Brown and Michael Zegen recurring too.
Farrell reveled in the Penguin character as the extreme prosthetic makeup allowed him to hide and become the gangster character. Many couldn’t believe that the Irish actor was in the original “The Batman” trailer as the work by the film’s fantastic makeup team essentially transformed Farrell into someone nearly unreconcilable by audiences. Seeing the actor warm up to the idea of continuing the role in a series suggests he’ll be playing The Penguin for years.
Reeves, a creative force on the upcoming show, is also developing another series focused on Arkham Asylum (the main housing for most of Batman’s endless criminal rogues gallery). Still, it will be outside his cinematic universe. Instead, it will occur within the greater DCU and could connect with upcoming films such as “The Brave & The Bold“ and the Batman-adjacent “Teen Titans.”
There is also an hope that Farrell will return in “The Batman Part II,” potentially in a much more threatening position as he moves up within the criminal underworld of Gotham and becomes much more dangerous as his grip on the city grows over time. But the sequel could already be overloaded with villains this series will already give him time to shine, to we’ll see.
In the meantime, “The Penguin” series streams exclusively on Max and will debut this fall though no exact date has been given yet. Watch the first trailer below.