If the rumors are true, one of the Dark Knight’s greatest fowl-themed foes may be getting his own television series in the near future!
The team at Deadline is reporting that director Matt Reeves is developing an all-new spin-off prequel series following The Penguin as his next project after The Batman (2022). The show will tell the story of Oswald Cobblepot, aka The Penguin, as he rises up through the ranks of Gotham City’s criminal underworld.
The series is reportedly being compared to director Brian De Palma’s iconic gangster classic Scarface (1983) (which oddly enough has absolutely nothing to do with the Batman villain of the same name) and will give us a deep look at the origins of The Penguin as he builds his criminal empire. Matt Reeves and Dylan Clark are set to executive produce the series, with Lauren LeFranc on board to write the series script.
The biggest question now is, who will take on the titular role? The most obvious answer is Colin Farrell, who will be starring in The Batman as The Penguin alongside Robert Pattinson’s new take on the Caped Crusader. Farrel’s version of The Penguin is created with the actor completely lost under heavy makeup and prosthetics, so it isn’t entirely out of the question that he could play a younger version of the same character using similar practical effects. It helps that the actor has plenty of television experience already under his belt, with starring roles in True Detective (2015) and The North Water (2021) and a featured narrative role in Legend of Cambria (2018).
THR is reporting that Farrell has been approached with the opportunity to reprise his role for this new Penguin series, although it has yet to be confirmed if he will do so. Thankfully, if Farrell passes, since it is a younger version of the character, it wouldn’t be too drastic a change to have a new actor stepping into Oswald Cobblepot’s shoes for this show.
The Penguin has previously been portrayed in live-action by Burgess Meredith in the classic 1960s Batman television series and by Danny DeVito in Tim Burton’s over-the-top sequel to Batman (1989), Batman Returns (1992). We also saw a younger version of The Penguin on the Gotham (2014) television series. There have been countless animated takes on the character over the years, but he has largely stayed true to his comical villainy sporting a top hat and wielding all kinds of weaponized trick-umbrellas against his opponents.
In recent years the character has been portrayed in a much more realistic perspective, toning him down and making him a gruff mobster type who just happens to be short and stout with the characteristics of a chubby flightless bird. Farrell’s version looks much closer to something like what we might have seen in the gritty Batman: Arkham video game series rather than a cartoony laughing villain with his pinky out.
Matt Reeves The Batman already has another spinoff in the works for HBO Max that focuses on Jeffrey Wright’s Jim Gordon. It is entirely possible that Reeves is just ready to keep world-building in hopes that we can flesh things out for all of the characters he doesn’t have the time to focus heavily on in his first Batman film. This show could be the perfect way to further explore Cobblepot and countless other background characters that may or may not be introduced in the new film.
The Batman stars Robert Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz, Colin Farrell, Andy Serkis, Paul Dano, Peter Sarsgaard, Jeffrey Wright, Barry Keoghan, and John Turturro. The movie from director Matt Reeves is currently scheduled to hit theaters on March 4, 2022.
Would you watch a show that follows The Penguin? What other Batman characters would you hope to see get their own series? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below and be sure to stick around Geek Anything for more updates on The Batman!