Colin Farrell’s Penguin Transformation Completely Changes His Spinoff Hype

Warning! SPOILERS for The Batman.

The events of The Batman totally change the hype for Collin Farrell’s ThePenguin spin-off. Before the Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson DC Films project even hit theaters, Warner Bros. was already developing a couple of spin-offs focusing on other characters from the movie. This includes a show that centers on Gotham PD and another one on Oswald Cobblepot (aka Penguin), and both will be streaming on HBO Max. 

Despite being initially conceived as Ben Affleck’s solo Caped Crusader adventure, The Batman exists outside of the DCEU canon, with its events taking place in an entirely different reality separate from the Justice League. That being said, it’s about to launch its own interconnected universe through the aforementioned offshoots, not to mention the expected The Batman 2, which is already in development. Admittedly, however, a Penguin spin-off didn’t sound all that interesting when it was first announced, but as viewers learn about the character in The Batman, that will surely change. 

The Batman features several bad guys, with the Riddler’s (Paul Dano) plan to expose the one who’s intricately linked to the corruption of Gotham. Initially, the Dark Knight suspected Cobblepot after the “ratta alada” clue (which means “rat with wings”), but he was merely a red herring. Instead, it’s Carmine Falcone (John Turturro) who’s the real culprit, as he worked with the police for years to distribute a drug called “drops.” Riddler ultimately kills Falcone, leaving the city’s mafia organization without a leader, and with Penguin being the right-hand-man of the fallen criminal boss, he’s also in the best position to assume the vacated spot. This would more likely be the narrative of the upcoming The Penguin series on HBO Max. As Reeves previously revealed, he originally wanted this to be the premise of The Batman 2, but Warner Bros. deemed it to be better as a TV series on its streaming platform.

At the time of The Batman, Penguin isn’t the big-name crime lord that he’s more popularly known. Instead, he’s mostly in the background and was barely the focus of the film, although it’s clear that he’s somehow made a name for himself that even Batman knows and follows his operations. This was intentional, as the movie only wanted to establish him as a character but not delve into his own personal arc — at least not yet. That’s reserved for the Penguin offshoot that could properly tackle the villain’s storyline without the additional moving parts in The Batman. In hindsight, it also makes sense that the spin-off has been reworked to be a show, as it allows its creatives more screen time to tell Cobblepot’s efforts to claim Falcone’s crime organization. It’s safe to say that he will ultimately be successful which effectively makes him a more formidable villain in upcoming The Batman sequels. 

The Batman set up a handful of bad guys that can take the spotlight in a follow-up film. Riddler is also still alive and given his newfound friendship with Arkham neighbor, Joker (Barry Keoghan), it isn’t outside the realm of possibility that they team up against the Dark Knight. There were also nods to Court of Owls, Red Hood, Bane, and Two-Face among others that can front The Batman 2. There’s no need to rush Cobblepot’s return on the big screen, focusing on his arc on The Penguin and saving him for a movie installment further down the line. 

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