There’s no sign of The Batman 2 as yet, although we’re sure director Matt Reeves and the team are hard at work on preproduction. But the next chapter in this latest iteration of the Batman saga is nigh upon us, with the eight episode miniseries The Penguin premiering this September. Precise date TBA, for reasons we don’t quite grasp.
Starring an unrecognisable Colin Farrell as ambitious crime boss Oswald “The Penguin” Cobblepot, the series takes place in the aftermath of The Batman, followng the portly powerhouse’s rise to prominence in the Gotham underworld following the death of Carmine Falcone (John Turturro, probably not appearing unless we get a flashback or two). While the Falcone organisation is in disarray, our man Oswald starts making moves, which is sure to ruffle the feathers of surviving Falcones Sofia (Cristin Milioti, who really should be a huge star by now) and Alberto (Michael Zegen, last seen in the superb The Marvellous Mrs Maisel), Carmine’s children.
Also in the mix are the great Clancy Brown as imprisoned mob boss Sal Maroni. Brown, who simply makes everything better, is no stranger to DC, having voiced Lex Luthor in Superman: the Animated Series and various other DCAU properties. Shohreh Aghdashloo is Nadia Maroni, his wife; Michael Kelly is Johnny Vitti, underboss of the Falcone organisation; Rhenzy Feliz is Victor Aguilar, Pengy’s driver and right hand man; and James Madio, Scott Cohen, Theo Rossi, François Chau, David H. Holmes, Craig Walker, Jared Abrahamson, and Mark Strong are showing up in undisclosed roles.
We’re keen to find out who Strong’s playing—he’s not the kind of actor you waste in a small supporting part. And, speaking of Lex Luthor, the man looks good with a bare scalp (he also played Sinestro in the Green Lantern movie—sorry to dredge up that memory).
As ever, plot details are being kept under wraps (getting a bit sick of every cape property being treated like a military secret, tbh). However, if you’re a dyed-in-the-wool nerd you’ll recognise some of these characters from the excellent maxiseries Batman: The Long Halloween. That series saw the Dark Knight tracking down a serial killer against the backdrop of a mob war in Gotham, and also served as a new take on the origin of Two-Face. Now, The Penguin obviously isn’t going to be a direct adaptation, but it could be setting things up for the next Batflick to play around with that story. Suffice to say, we’re here for it.
