Oswald Cobblepot is getting his own TV series. Ahead of the release of The Batman in theaters next year, it has just been reported that HBO Max is developing a spinoff series centering on The Penguin. Variety reports that the show would delve into Cobblepot’s rise to power in the Gotham criminal underworld. Colin Farrell, who plays the dastardly supervillain in the movie, has also been reportedly approached to reprise his role for the series, though he hasn’t yet finalized a deal.
Per the report, Lauren LeFranc (YouTube Premium’s Impulse) would be writing the script for the Penguin spinoff series, said to be in its very early stages. The Batman director Matt Reeves and producer Dylan Clark would also be on board to executive produce under their 6th & Idaho and Dylan Clark Productions banners, respectively. Warner Bros. Television will also produce.
If the Penguin show gets picked up to series, it will be the second spinoff show from The Batman. It was previously reported that a drama series set within the Gotham City Police Department is also in the works at HBO Max. Joe Barton is attached to serve as showrunner. It’s not yet clear if Robert Pattinson or any other actors from The Batman will appear in the series. These two shows are a part of WarnerMedia’s overall plan to launch an interconnected Batman universe across all platforms.
Penguin has been one of Batman’s most notorious foes for eight decades now. In honor of the supervillain’s 80th birthday, Batman Returns actor Danny DeVito will write a Penguin story for a comic book. Fans will remember that DeVito played a big screen version of Penguin in the sequel to Tim Burton’s Batman. Burgess Meredith previously played Penguin in the original Batman series from the 1960s while, more recently, Robin Lord Taylor played a younger version of the character in the prequel series Gotham.
The Batman is directed by Matt Reeves, who co-wrote the screenplay with Peter Craig. Robert Pattinson makes his debut as Bruce Wayne in the movie, which is set in a standalone universe not connected to the DCEU. Joining him and Colin Farrell as Penguin in the cast are Paul Dano as Riddler, Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, and Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth. For his part, Farrell is very unrecognizable in his role in the movie.
“I arrived on set and there was this guy walking around who was being so over confident,” said Rupert Penry-Jones, who plays a “mysterious victim” in the movie. “I had no idea who he was. He was being really friendly, he was telling all these stories, I was like, ‘Who is this guy?’ I thought he might’ve been a supporting actor [an extra to you and me]. He kept on talking to me, just really friendly, really nice, and I started noticing things about his costume. He had a brace on his leg and these weird scars on his face, and I thought, ‘This is quite a lot of effort they’ve gone to for a supporting artist…’ and suddenly I realized, ‘Wait a minute this guy must be playing the Penguin, oh my God that’s Colin Farrell!'”
The Batman will be released in theaters Meanwhile, several other DC shows are in development at HBO Max. This includes Peacemaker, a spinoff to The Suicide Squad, which brings back John Cena and director James Gunn. Also on the way are shows based on Green Lantern and Justice League Dark, among others. This news comes to us from Variety.