Summary
The Batman spinoff series, The Penguin, can right a past Marvel movie wrong. While Matt Reeves’ The Batman will not be made part of James Gunn’s new DC Universe, the director will continue developing his own corner of DC’s live-action offerings. Reeves’ The Batman universe will include both movies and shows as part of the projects labeled as DC’s Elseworlds, which means they will not be canon to the DCU. A new Batman will be cast for The Brave and the Bold movie instead of having Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne cross over.
With The Batman, Reeves started the Dark Knight’s journey by introducing a lived-in Gotham City. The Batman‘s cast included iconic DC Comics characters such as Catwoman, the Riddler, Jim Gordon, Alfred Pennyworth, the Penguin, and more. While all the characters had their moments, some shined brighter than others, and with the expansion of that universe, that has started to lead to spinoffs. While concrete The Batman – Part II updates are still a way out, The Penguin spinoff series should complete filming as soon as the SAG-AFTRA strike ends, and the DC series will correct a Marvel movie mistake.
Related: The Penguin TV Show: Cast, Story Details & Everything We Know So Far
The Batman’s Penguin Spinoff Can Make Up For Colin Farrell’s Wasted Marvel Movie Role
The Penguin‘s cast is led by Colin Farrell, who reprises his role as Oswald Cobblepot from The Batman in the upcoming series. The Penguin can correct a mistake that was made by one of the pre-MCU Marvel movies – namely 2003’s Daredevil. Within the Marvel movie, Farrell gave life to the villain Bullseye, who is an iconic comic antagonist. Farrell is a fantastic actor, and while he was great casting for the role, Daredevil‘s Bullseye was far too comedic and not menacing enough.
Netflix’s Daredevil season 3 had a far more chilling version of Bullseye, played by Wilson Bethel.
Adding to that, the character was given an awful bullseye scar on his forehead as a nod to the character’s comic book suit, which looked way too goofy to work with the rest of his characterization. As such, The Penguin can serve as a way to showcase just how effective Farrell truly can be as a movie supervillain. The Batman already did that in part, though Cobblepot was only a supporting player in the film. As the lead of The Penguin, Farrell can show his full dramatic range, diving deeper into one of the best Batman villains, which would be the perfect redemption for his wasted Bullseye role.
Why The Penguin Spinoff Is So Promising
As the first The Penguin teaser revealed, the series will follow Farrell’s Penguin becoming the new crime lord of Gotham City. After Carmine Falcone’s death in The Batman, there is a power vacuum to be explored, which serves as the perfect backdrop for a dark and twisted tale with Farrell’s Penguin, and the teaser showing him kill a man with multiple gunshots and laughing right after sets the tone for the series. The show has also been compared to The Sopranos, arguably the best crime series of all time. That, and the series setting up The Batman – Part II‘s story, make The Penguin one of DC’s most promising projects.
Key Release Dates
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
Joker: Folie a Deux
Superman: Legacy
The Batman – Part II
The Batman – Part II releases in 2025. Read More