Rumor: Mark Strong Joins DC’s ‘The Penguin’ Series in a Villainous Role? Who Could He Be Playing?
When Colin Farrell was cast as Oswald Cobblepot, The Penguin, in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, many fans were skeptical as they did not know what to expect from the interpretation. Farrell definitely did not look the part, but the costume design crew did an amazing job and Farrell delivered a brilliant villain who was so good that HBO ordered a standalone spin-off series focusing on The Penguin. The series, which will be titled The Penguin, is set to be released later this year and we have just today received some interesting casting rumors!
Namely, we know that Farrell is reprising his role and that the series will focus on Penguin taking over Gotham’s criminal underworld after the death of Carmine Falcone (played by John Turturro in the film) at the hands of the Riddler.
The series will obviously focus on Penguin’s clash with what remains of the Falcone family, as Farrell’s co-star in the series will be Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone, with Michael Zegen being cast as Alberto Falcone in a supporting role. Clancy Brown will appear as Salvatore Maroni, while Michael Kelly has been cast as Johnny Vitti, an important member of the Falcone crime family. Rhenzy Feliz has been cast as an undisclosed lead character, with other undisclosed roles including those of Shohreh Aghdashloo, Deirdre O’Connell, James Madio, Scott Cohen, Theo Rossi, Carmen Ejogo, François Chau, David H. Holmes, Craig Walker, and Jared Abrahamson.
Today, though, news broke that Hollywood legend Mark Strong would also be appearing in the series, which has been speculated for a while but never officially confirmed. The rumor spread from the Instagram account of personal trainer Giacomo Farci, who posted images of Strong from a training session; one of the fans then asked whether the images were from Strong’s preparation for The Penguin, to which Farci responded, “Yes, I’ve trained Mark for it.”
Now, this is by no means an official confirmation, but it is definitely a solid rumor, as Farci should know this. If not him, then who? Of course, we’ll have to wait for either WB or HBO to confirm this officially, but as stated – this is a very solid rumor from our perspective, especially since Strong’s involvement with the series had been talked about even before.
So, who could Strong be playing? He has been listed as a member of the Falcone family, with some fans suggesting that he might be playing Carmine himself, but that doesn’t make much sense, does it? First of all, The Penguin is tied to The Batman and will explore the aftermath of the movie while focusing on Penguin. This means that the two projects are part of the same universe, a universe in which John Turturro has already played Carmine Falcone. On top of that, Falcone was killed at the end of the movie, so the character is dead officially in this universe.
This is why Strong replacing Turturro as Falcone doesn’t really make much sense, honestly. He could, perhaps, be playing a younger version of the character, but that wouldn’t make much sense either, if you ask us. So, no, we don’t think that Strong is going to appear as Carmine Falcone. He could appear as Mario Falcone, one of Carmine’s sons, but Strong seems somewhat old for that role, especially in relation to Milioti and Zegen, who would be playing his siblings.
Another possibility, suggested by fans, could be Black Mask, whose real name is Roman Sionis, and who is likewise a major player in Gotham’s criminal underground and a prominent mobster in the franchise. Strong would be a great pick for the role, if you ask us.
Be that as it may, until we get an official confirmation, these are just rumors and conjectures, but we do think that you should keep following us, as we are going to bring you all the updates and official confirmations as soon as they arrive!
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