A minor character in The Batman with a long history and roots in Gotham’s Underworld is being recast in the upcoming HBO Max spinoff centered around The Penguin. Crime boss Sal Maroni had a cameo that if you blinked or went to the lobby for a snack, you probably missed. Since it won’t matter in the long run, that oversight is okay.
According to a new report by noted exclusive breakers The Illuminerdi, the role of Maroni that initially went to an uncredited actor, whose face only appeared in a newspaper, is going to somebody else in the upcoming series. The actor the casting director is looking for will preferably be in his 60s and clearly needs the energy to rival the younger Oswald.
Oz, which he was called more often than “Penguin,” is on the rise with Carmine Falcone gone, but he still has to deal with the vacuum left behind at the end of The Batman. Maroni spent the duration of the film in prison thanks to Falcone and a drug bust, so he probably wants to fill that void himself and reclaim what was his.
Maroni was always the number-two mobster in the city but usually gained more power and status with Falcone out of the way. This was true in The Dark Knight and the TV series Gotham where he was played by Eric Roberts and David Zayas, respectively. In Gotham, he hired and mentored an outcast Penguin but the likelihood the dynamic plays out again is slim.
His getting on Oz’s bad side is more likely. Maroni has a penchant for bringing out the worst in people to the point of creating new criminals. The best example is Harvey Dent who became Two-Face one splash of acid from the witness stand later. This scene played out in The Long Halloween and in Batman Forever all the way back in 1995.
Ever since that first live-action appearance, Hollywood has been referring back to Sal Maroni on and off. Even if it wasn’t originally the plan, HBO Max’s continuation of Matt Reeves’ The Batman universe puts the criminal back in play within a more chaotic and mired landscape than before. What does it mean for the Cobblepot empire and what’s left of the Falcone family?
Given The Penguin series’ undetermined premiere date, that question remains unanswered, but a turf war and acts of vengeance by Maroni are plausible outcomes. Actress Cristin Milioti was recently cast as Falcone’s daughter – one aside from Selina Kyle – and Deadline reports she will battle Oswald for control of Gotham. Surely, Maroni makes that struggle a lot more complicated.
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