When Matt Reeves blessed us with 2022’s The Batman, truly one of the best superhero movies of all time, a series centered on Colin Farrell’s Oswald Cobb was already in the works. Now two years later, The Penguin is ready to take over our screens. And yes, Reeves already confirmed that Robert Pattinson’s Batman won’t make an appearance.
The eight-episode HBO Original series from showrunner and executive producer Lauren LeFranc (Impulse, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) follows a rise-to-power Scarface story. It begins one week after the film’s events when Edward Nashton, aka the Riddler (Paul Dano), flooded Gotham City by blowing up the seawall. One of the first news reports we hear is about how crime has gone up since the disaster. But this is Gotham we’re talking about. When the hell is crime ever down?
Like nearly every scene in the film, it’s pouring down raining when we catch up with Oswald “Oz” Cobb (Colin Farrell, also an executive producer) amongst the decimated remains of the Iceberg Lounge. Moments after Oz has killed someone, young Victor Aguilar (Rhenzy Feliz) finds himself in the crosshairs, leaving him no choice but to help dispose of the body. As a kid from Crown Point, one of the neighborhoods destroyed by the flood, he takes the opportunity to become Oz’s driver.
With Carmine Falcone (John Turturro) dead, his position as the kingpin of Gotham is open for the taking. Oz, Carmine’s lieutenant, still works for the Falcone family but he’s eyeing the throne. Unfortunately for him, there are others next in line to take over. Operations are currently under the control of Carmine’s brother Luca (Scott Cohen), underboss Johnny Viti (Michael Kelly), and Capo Milos Grapa (James Madio), as well as Carmine’s son Alberto (Michael Zegen).
The return of Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti), Alberto’s older sister, is a big surprise for Oz. Accused of committing the crimes of the serial killer known as the Hangman, she was locked up in Arkham State Hospital for ten tortuous years. Now that she’s back, Sofia is Oz’s biggest threat for more reasons than one.
People, including her family, may be afraid of her but they don’t respect her. They think she’s unstable, hysterical, and perhaps weakened by her stint in Arkham. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Milioti plays Sofia as a confident woman with a touch of madness that she tries to keep in check when surrounded by people, mostly men in her family, who are waiting for her to crack at any moment.
While Oz Cobb, aka the Penguin (which he does not like to be called), is the titular star of the series, Sofia Falcone’s backstory and complicated relationships with her patriarchal family often steal the spotlight, and for good reason. One episode largely focuses on Sofia’s hellish time in Arkham, the horrors she endured, and her connection with Dr. Julian Rush (Theo Rossi), the only person sympathetic to her situation.
Lauren LeFranc said Oz’s respect for Sofia, and women in general is “rooted in his love for his mother and his desire to have her be proud of him.” Yes, Oz is a gangster who loves his mama. When we meet Francis Cobb (Deirdre O’Connell), it’s evident how and why Oz ended up where he is today. She’s a tough broad who expects a lot out of her son.
Unlike other iterations of the villain, this Oswald Cobb wasn’t born into wealth, so his mother burdens him with giving her the life she feels she deserves after years of struggling to get by. It’s a task Oz gladly takes on from a young age and lets it influence his every decision.
The psychology of Batman’s rogues has always been fascinating to me, whether it’s played for laughs in Harley Quinn or more seriously like in Batman: Caped Crusader. In The Penguin, we learn that there’s more to Oz than just someone climbing the ranks to get money and power.
His ambitious, narcissistic, morally corrupt nature stems from his desire for recognition and love, mostly from his mother but also from fellow gangsters and Gothamites. He’s a talker who regularly gives inspiring monologues, some of which seem genuinely from the heart, while others are almost complete BS.
People like Salvatore Maroni (Clancy Brown), who’s serving time in Blackgate after that infamous drug bust, see through his schmoozing and tall tales. And yet, Oz still manages to get people to trust him (which is quite comical) because he’s on his interpersonal espionage game.
We see a lot more of Gotham City, specifically the poorer neighborhoods struggling to survive in the aftermath. The show builds on the film’s theme of wealth and class disparity, exploring the inequality and divide between the elites and the city dwellers.
Visually, The Penguin slightly differs from The Batman but not in quality — directors of photography Darran Tiernan (Westworld), Jonathan Freeman (Boardwalk Empire), and Zoë White (Werewolf by Night) definitely kept in line with Greig Fraser’s (Dune) stunning cinematography. But in this show, we follow Oz as he walks (or waddles) his way around the streets of Gotham while the sun is actually out, which isn’t something we’re used to in this Batman universe.
The Penguin has all the elements that make a dark crime drama compelling — alliances and betrayals, murder and survival, intense interactions between enemies. But it’s also a gripping psychological exploration of an ambitious gangster’s rise to power and a determined crime family heiress coming into her own. The show does not suffer without Batman.
I’m sure others will appreciate this continuation of Oz’s story as more than just something to tide us over while we wait another two years for a sequel. The finale is a nice setup for the next chapter in Matt Reeves’ saga.
The Penguin premieres September 19, 2024, on HBO and Max, followed by new episodes every Sunday night through November 10, 2024.
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