Spoilers below for The Batman:
The Penguin is waddling back onto the small screen. HBO Max has ordered a new spinoff featuring The Batman antagonist, with the working title of "The Penguin."
Colin Farrell is set to reprise his role as the infamous crime boss, and HBO says the limited series will expand upon the world laid out by Matt Reeves in The Batman.
Reeves will return as executive producer, along with Dylan Clark (producer on The Batman and Reeves' Planet of the Apes sequels), Colin Farrell, and Lauren LeFranc (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.).
“Colin exploded off the screen as the Penguin in 'The Batman,' and having the chance to thoroughly explore the inner life of that character on HBO Max is an absolute thrill," Reeves said in a statement. "Dylan and I are so excited to work with Lauren in continuing Oz’s story as he grabs violently for power in Gotham.”
Farrell's version of the Penguin starts in a somewhat similar position to Batman, as a significant and rising influence in the criminal underworld despite the character's older age. It's not quite the crime lord that other versions of the Penguin are depicted as. It's someone who's still scrapping with Batman and taking orders from bosses like John Turturro's Carmine Falcone. The series will presumably take place following the events of The Batman, where Penguin quickly finds himself in a power vacuum following the deaths of major Gotham figures.
“The world that Matt Reeves created for ‘The Batman’ is one that warrants a deeper gaze through the eyes of Oswald Cobblepot," Farrell said. "I couldn’t be more excited about continuing this exploration of Oz as he rises through the darkened ranks to become The Penguin. Will be good to get him back on the streets of Gotham for a little madness and a little mayhem.”
In our review of The Batman, IGN's Alex Stedman called Farrell's performance in The Batman "formidable," noting the actor is "deeply unrecognizable" under the convincing prosthetics.
While we wait for the Penguin to get his moment in the spotlight, you can read about how director Matt Reeves used fear as a tool in the movie, Batman's horror and gothic influences, or check out what we know about the Gotham PD spinoff series currently in development.
Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.
