Who says Penguins can’t fly?
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.
“Colin exploded off the screen as the Penguin in The Batman, and having the chance to thoroughly explore the inner life of that character on HBO Max is an absolute thrill,” said Reeves in the press release. “Dylan and I are so excited to work with Lauren in continuing Oz’s story as he grabs violently for power in Gotham.”
“The world that Matt Reeves created for The Batman is one that warrants a deeper gaze through the eyes of Oswald Cobblepot,” added Farrell. “I couldn’t be more excited about continuing this exploration of Oz as he rises through the darkened ranks to become The Penguin. Will be good to get him back on the streets of Gotham for a little madness and a little mayhem.”
Story details are still to be revealed, but it’s easy to speculate on where the show might go to anyone who’s seen the film. The Batman introduces us to a Cobblepot who isn’t yet the crime lord we know he’ll ultimately become. We’re seeing him at a pivotal moment in his life—the Iceberg Lounge already exists and is an underworld hotspot, but he’s still serving under the weighty hand of the Gotham City boss Carmine Falcone. That changes at the end of the film, opening up the door for the Penguin to seize power if he so desires. That could make for a juicy mob story set against the backdrop of Batman’s infamous city. However, The Penguin could just as easily serve as a prequel, letting us know how Cobblepot arrived at the point we see him in the film. The story of the Iceberg Lounge alone would be fascinating to discover, as would how he got involved with Falcone and picked up his unique nickname. Who knows? The series could even interweave both approaches, Godfather II-style. Let’s face it, you could do a lot worse as a mob story than following that iconic film’s approach.
While we may only be able to speculate about the sort of story we’ll see, what we do know is that The Penguin will join a diverse and critically acclaimed roster of DCTV shows currently found on HBO Max. Along with the vast majority of DC’s theatrical and animated movies, HBO Max is also the exclusive home of Titans, Doom Patrol, Pennyworth and recent hit Peacemaker, which like The Penguin, was spun out of a recent theatrical release (it also just earned a second season).
But that’s enough from us, now we want to hear from you. Are you excited to see the world of The Batman expand onto HBO Max. What would you like to see in a series about Farrell’s Penguin? And are there any other parts of The Batman that you think might make for must-see TV? Let us know your thoughts on all of this right now in the DC Community and keep your eye on DCComics.com for more Penguin news as it breaks!
Source: DC Comics
