The Penguin (TV series)


The Penguin is an American crime drama television miniseries developed by Lauren LeFranc for HBO. Based on the character from DC Comics, it serves as a spin-off from the 2022 film The Batman. Produced by DC Studios in association with Warner Bros. Television, the series follows Oz Cobb's rise to power in Gotham City's criminal underworld. LeFranc also serves as the showrunner of the series.
Colin Farrell stars as the titular character, reprising his role from The Batman, alongside Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz, Deirdre O'Connell, Clancy Brown, Carmen Ejogo, Michael Zegen, Berto Colón, Scott Cohen, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Theo Rossi, James Madio, Nadine Malouf, Joshua Bitton, David H. Holmes, Daniel J. Watts, Jared Abrahamson, Ben Cook, Jayme Lawson, Aleska Palladino, Craig Walker, Tess Soltau, Marié Botha, Michael Kelly, and Mark Strong.
Development on the series was underway by September 2021, and HBO Max ordered it in March 2022, after The Batman was released. The film's director, Matt Reeves, supervised the writing and was involved in hiring the creative team. Filming began in March 2023 in New York but was halted in June by the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes. Production resumed in late November and concluded in February 2024. The series moved from HBO Max's successor Max to HBO in July 2024. Craig Zobel directed the first three episodes, Helen Shaver and Kevin Bray directed two each, and Jennifer Getzinger directed the finale.
The Penguin was broadcast in the United States for eight episodes from September 19 to November 10, 2024. The series received critical acclaim for its performances, writing, direction, tone, and production value. It also received numerous accolades and was nominated for 24 Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards, including wins for both Farrell and Milioti's performances.

Premise

Following the events of The Batman, the series explores the rise to power of Oz Cobb / The Penguin in Gotham City's criminal underworld.

Cast and characters

Main

  • Colin Farrell as Oswald "Oz" Cobb / The Penguin:
The disfigured former right-hand man of deceased crime boss Carmine Falcone, who was born with clubfoot, giving him a waddle-like gait, and is now on the rise to becoming a criminal kingpin in his own right. Farrell said the series would further explore the character's strength, awkwardness, and villainy as well as the "heartbroken man inside there" beyond his introduction in The Batman. For the series, the character's surname is shortened to "Cobb" from "Cobblepot", the surname traditionally used in the comics, because the production found it to be a more plausible name. Ryder Allen portrays a young Oz.
Carmine's daughter and a presumed psychopathic serial killer who, after being released from Arkham State Hospital, fights Oz for control of Gotham City's criminal underworld. Initially referred to as "Sofia Falcone", she later adopts her mother's surname "Gigante" to spite her father's memory.
  • Rhenzy Feliz as Victor "Vic" Aguilar:
A homeless teenager who becomes Oz's driver and personal enforcer. Victor's characterization incorporates elements from that of Jason Todd, the second character to assume the persona of Batman's sidekick Robin, but he is not a direct adaptation.
  • Deirdre O'Connell as Francis Cobb: Oz's mother who suffers from Parkinson's and Lewy body dementia. Emily Meade portrays a young Francis Cobb.

    Related to the Falcone family

  • Michael Zegen as Alberto Falcone: Carmine's son and Sofia's older brother, who struggles with drug and alcohol addiction.
  • Berto Colón as Castillo: An enforcer of the Falcone family loyal to Sofia.
  • James Madio as Milos Grapa: The consigliere of the Falcone family and Carmine's former bodyguard.
  • Michael Kelly as Johnny Viti: The underboss of the Falcone crime family and acting boss following Carmine's death.
  • Mark Strong as Carmine Falcone:
A deceased Gotham crime boss and the father of Sofia, Alberto, and Selina Kyle. Falcone appears through flashbacks, with Strong replacing The Batman actor John Turturro.
  • Scott Cohen as Luca Falcone: Carmine's brother and former Caporegime who succeeds him as the boss of the Falcone crime family.
  • Aleksa Palladino as Carla Viti: Johnny's younger sister and the mother of Gia.
  • Kenzie Grey as Gia Viti: Carla's daughter.
  • Theo Rossi as Dr. Julian Rush: A former psychiatrist at Arkham and Sofia's therapist and love interest.
  • Craig Walker as Detective Marcus Wise: A corrupt detective working for Sofia in exchange for drugs.
  • Tess Soltau as Tina Falcone: Luca's wife and Johnny's mistress.
  • Myles Humphus as Dom: An enforcer for the Falcone family, and later to Sofia.
  • Peter McDonald as Detective William Kenzie: A corrupt detective and enforcer for Carmine Falcone. McDonald reprises his role from The Batman.

    Related to the Maroni family

  • Clancy Brown as Salvatore "Sal" Maroni: The head of the Maroni Crime Family whose operation ended following a historic drug bust, in which Carmine was the informant.
  • Shohreh Aghdashloo as Nadia Maroni: Salvatore's wife and the acting boss of the Maroni family.
  • Aria Shahghasemi as Taj Maroni: The son of Salvatore and Nadia Maroni.

    Related to the Penguin

  • Carmen Ejogo as Eve Karlo: A madam and Oz's lover, she is known for changing her appearance to suit her clients' desires. Her surname references Basil Karlo, the original Clayface.
  • Joshua Bitton as Mikey Stone: An enforcer and street dealer for Oz.
  • David H. Holmes as Nick Fuchs: An enforcer for Oz.
  • Daniel J. Watts as Bruno Tess: One of Oz's loyal enforcers.
  • Owen Asztalos as Jack Cobb: Oz's older brother.
  • Nico Tirozzi as Benny Cobb: Oz's younger brother.
  • Louis Cancelmi as Rex Calabrese: A gangster from Oz's youth whom he describes as a revered community figure.
  • Eric Berryman as Dr. Desoto: A chemist at Oz's plant.
  • Ade Otukoya as Zeke: One of Oz's enforcers.
  • Alex Anagnostidis as Ray: A driver in Oz's crew.

    Other

  • Ben Cook as Calvin: A street teenager and friend of Vic's.
  • François Chau as Feng Zhao: Head of the Gotham Triads, a medium-sized gang with international connections that runs nightclubs and casinos. He is referred to as "the Dai Lo". Chau previously played a Triad boss in the DC Extended Universe film Birds of Prey.
  • Robert Lee Leng as Link Tsai: Deputy to "the Dai Lo" of the Gotham Triads and an associate of Oz.
  • Marié Botha as Magpie: An Arkham inmate imprisoned for serial theft.
  • Jared Abrahamson as Squid: Calvin's cousin and a drug dealer from Crown Point who Victor has known since before the flood.
  • Nadine Malouf as Summer Gleeson: A journalist who becomes one of the Hangman's victims.
  • Con O'Neill as GCPD Chief Mackenzie Bock. O'Neill reprises his role from The Batman.
  • Rhys Coiro as Councilman Sebastian Hady: A corrupt Gotham politician with a gambling addiction.
  • Jayme Lawson as Bella Reál: The mayor-elect of Gotham. Lawson reprises her role from The Batman.

    Episodes

Production

Development

By September 2021, HBO Max was developing a spin-off series from the film The Batman, focusing on the character Oz / the Penguin, portrayed in the film by Colin Farrell. The Batman director Matt Reeves suggested to studio executives that a sequel film could explore the Penguin further, but they wanted to use the idea for a spin-off series instead. Lauren LeFranc was hired to write the series, while Reeves and The Batman producer Dylan Clark were set as executive producers through their respective production companies 6th & Idaho and Dylan Clark Productions. They had previously begun development on another spin-off series focused on the Gotham City Police Department, but by early March 2022 that series had been put on hold in favor of spin-offs focused on existing comic book characters; of these, the Penguin series was the furthest along in development at that time. The GCPD series was no longer moving forward by July 2024, though some elements were integrated into the Penguin series. Reeves was unsure then whether he would be directing the series, which he said would come before a sequel to The Batman and could tie into that potential second film. Following The Batman release, the limited series received a straight-to-series order from HBO Max using the working title The Penguin, with LeFranc confirmed to serve as showrunner and executive producer. 6th & Idaho's Daniel Pipski and Adam Kassan were also set as executive producers, along with Rafi Crohn as a co-executive producer. Star Colin Farrell said in July that Reeves would not be directing the series but was providing guidance on the structure of the scripts and was involved in choosing their director. In October, Craig Zobel was hired to direct the first three episodes of the series and to serve as an executive producer.
After James Gunn and Peter Safran became the co-CEOs of DC Studios in November 2022, future projects for Reeves's The Batman shared universe were set to be overseen by that studio. Gunn had contacted Reeves about his projects by then. When announcing the first projects for the new DC franchise, the DC Universe, in January 2023, Gunn said any project that did not fit into the DCU's shared universe would be labeled as "DC Elseworlds" moving forward. This is the same as how DC Comics uses the Elseworlds imprint to mark comic books that are separate from the main continuity. Reeves' Batman shared universe was set to be a part of this label, including The Penguin. Reeves and Clark refer to their shared universe as the "Batman Epic Crime Saga". Bill Carraro was set as an executive producer by the following month.
The series consists of eight 60-minute-long episodes, totaling approximately six-to-eight hours of content. Farrell felt this length would provide time to explore Oz's origin story and would allow the series to be "endlessly fun", fascinating, and brutal, as it was intended to have a more mature interpretation; the series was ultimately confirmed to receive a TV-MA rating by the TV Parental Guidelines. In April 2023, the series was officially titled The Penguin and announced to be releasing on the streaming service Max, the successor to HBO Max. Helen Shaver was confirmed as a director in December 2023, followed by directors Kevin Bray and Jennifer Getzinger in September 2024.