If we can’t have a full series of Colin Farrell showing off his sensational abs, at least we’ll get the next best thing: An entire TV show featuring the star in a crazy fat suit.
After a weekend of major box office success and critical acclaim for The Batman, it’s no surprise that Colin Farrell’s Penguin spinoff series is moving forward at HBO Max. Milking intellectual property dry with sequels, origin stories, and spinoffs is Hollywood’s greatest tradition, after all.
Under the working title The Penguin, Farrell will go more in depth on Matt Reeves’ bumbling version of the villain.
“The world that Matt Reeves created for ‘The Batman’ is one that warrants a deeper gaze through the eyes of Oswald Cobblepot,” Farrell said in a statement. “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.”
HBO Max has given the drama spinoff a straight-to-series order, attaching Reeves to once again tap into his brilliant bat-vision of Gotham. Without spoilers—but seriously, go see the movie ASAP—The Batman stars Farrell as Oz Cobblepot (“The Penguin”), an unrecognizable version of himself. Though The Penguin is depicted as a major crime kingpin in the comics, he’s but a young chick in Reeves’ blockbuster, hungry to earn more status.
Reeves has been teasing the rise of The Penguin for a bit, which has only been reinforced by Farrell’s lauded performance. In an interview with Polygon, the director explained that in The Batman, the villain is “a mid-level mobster guy and he’s got a bit of showmanship to him, but you can see that he wants more and that he’s been underestimated. He’s ready to make his move.”
Thus, enter The Penguin series, which will feature Reeves and Farrell as executive producers alongside Dylan Clark and Lauren LeFranc, who will write and serve as showrunner. Other than Farrell, it’s unclear as to which Batman characters will tap in for another round of gritty crime scenes — or, for that matter, which new Batman comic characters will be introduced in the universe.
While The Penguin will mark the first spinoff in Reeves’ new chapter of the DC comics, HBO has been maximizing their DC content since the success of shows like Doom Patrol, Watchmen, and most recently, Peacemaker.
The Batman is currently showing in theaters nationwide, thriving with an exclusive theatrical release having reaped a hearty $134 million at the box office this past weekend. With this Penguin spinoff update, can we expect sequel news too? Here’s hoping.
