Colin Farrell Shares New Details About ‘The Batman’ Spinoff ‘The Penguin’

Colin Farrell is returning to Gotham for the HBO Max series ‘The Penguin’. The spinoff series will see Farrell reprising his role from The Batman and following Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot’s rise to power in the criminal underworld. While series details have been kept under wraps, Farrell discussed the timeline of the series while on his press tour for The Banshees of Inisherin. He told Extra that the series will pick up in the immediate aftermath of the events of The Batman, with Gotham still under water after the Riddler bombed the sea wall. “It starts about a week after ‘The Batman’ ends,” Farrell said. “So, Gotham is still, somewhat, underwater. I read the first script of the first episode and it opens up on my feet splashing through the water in Falcone’s office. Even that alone, when I read it, I was like, ‘Oh, Jesus!’”

Related: Colin Farrell Is a Character Actor in a Leading Man’s Body on The Escapist

Farrell praised showrunner Lauren LeFranc (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Chuck), saying “It’s lovely. It’s so well-written, … Lauren LeFranc has done such an extraordinary job, and she’s writing the whole thing and show-running. She is formidable. It’s just an exciting prospect. I love that character. I was greedy with it. I felt like I didn’t have enough. I wanted to do it more and more and more.” 

The Batman was both a critical and commercial success, grossing over $770 million at the box office and earning an 85 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Two more Batman films are in the works, with Robert Pattinson and director Matt Reeves returning. A handful of TV spinoffs are also in the works, although their future may be at the mercy of the Warner Bros. Discovery merger and the ensuing fallout.

A police procedural based on the Gotham City Police Department was in development but then canceled over creative differences. It also didn’t help that audiences literally just watched the exact same series, Gotham, on FOX. Instead, Reeves has pivoted to a series based at Arkham Asylum, which will take on a horror tone with Arkham as a “haunted house.” It’s a smart choice, given the rich history and deep well of stories that Arkham has inspired. Neither the untitled Arkham Asylum series nor The Penguin have release dates yet, but we’ll keep you posted when they do.

(via Variety, featured image: Warner Bros.)

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