The Penguin season 1: Where it stands in The Batman franchise
The premiere of The Penguin is coming to HBO and Max later this year, and it could be one of the most-exciting TV series of the fall.
Why wouldn’t it be, all things considered? There are few comic-book villains as intriguing as Oswald Cobblepot, an unlikely crime boss who embraces and even exploits his underdog status in so many ways. Robin Lord Taylor set the bar high for TV versions of the character on Gotham, but we are excited to see Colin Farrell bring something totally different to the world after his work on Robert Pattinson’s The Batman.
Now, it makes some sense to wonder where The Penguin as a series sits between the first Matt Reeves film and the second, which is currently slated to come in 2026. Luckily, a few morsels of information are dropping on that!
In a new feature over at Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Lauren LeFranc notes that the Max / HBO series is set around a week after the events of The Batman, at least at first. She also is bold enough to compare this particular story to one of the most iconic crime tales in recent memory:
“It’s a Scarface story … It’s a rise-to-power story of Oz before he really makes it to the top … We’re in Oz’s world. We’re living in the underbelly of the city. Oz is a mover and a shaker. He can’t always be trusted. He’s very smart and very methodical, but he’s also extremely impulsive. You can’t predict what he’s going to do.”
Some of Oz’s actions are most likely dictated by emotion, but not all of them. This is someone who is rather adept at projecting one thing whereas in reality, he has a much larger plan bubbling underneath the surface. Trying to get inside his head and understanding his motives will be a chief component to the story ahead.
As for many potential cameos…
Well, it does feel like some are inevitable, but good luck getting LeFranc or Farrell to admit to any of them. This is one of those shows that cherishes the element of surprise — hence, the lack of knowledge about a Pattinson appearance that is out there. We will say from a personal standpoint that it would be great to see him turn up once around the finale; however, this is not a Batman story. If you go into The Penguin with the expectation that is going to be everywhere, you are compromising your own story and, perhaps, setting yourself up for failure. Why would that be desired?
Hopefully, San Diego Comic-Con is going to give us even more of a sense of what lies ahead for some of these characters and beyond just that, an official premiere date. There is so much to be hopeful about, especially since the Batman world arguably has better villains than almost any other comic-book franchise out there.
What are your boldest predictions heading into the launch of The Penguin over at Max and HBO?
Be sure to share right now in the attached comments! Once you do that, come back — there are SO many other updates that are going to be coming your way before too long.
This article was written by Jessica BunBun.