The Batman star Colin Farrell is excited for the spin-off coming to HBO Max starring his portrayal Oswald Cobblepot and he offered an update.
Speaking on the red carpet to the Entertainment arm of the Associated Press, the actor said the series will be “more of the same” but it digs deeper into Oswald and “opens it up more.”
KING PENGUIN: Colin Farrell discusses what fans can expect when he reprises his role as Batman villain The Penguin in HBO Max's upcoming series on the Gotham crime boss. pic.twitter.com/lRdFka1TRY
— AP Entertainment (@APEntertainment) July 29, 2022
Farrell added he “only got a taste of it on The Batman film” in his performance, which added up to “five or six scenes or something” — most of which saw the future Penguin get roughed up or looked down on as a joke by his superiors in the underworld, namely Falcone. Nevertheless, he “had so much fun.”
So he’s had quite a good time working under Matt Reeves, which can only be good for a series the director will oversee. According to Farrell, Reeves “is all over” the Penguin spin-off and meticulously planning everything to do with it and The Batman 2, which is virtually guaranteed.
Of the sequel, Farrell says Reeves is “planning the story because he’s just so meticulous.” Where the HBO spin-off is concerned, Reeves won’t be directing episodes as James Gunn did with Peacemaker — or so the story goes at this point in development — but he will handpick his directors.
“He’s so obsessive about what he does, but he’s all over [HBO Max’s] The Penguin [series] as well,” Farrell said to Entertainment Tonight. “I mean, he’s not [going to] direct it but he’s all over the structure of the scripts and who’s [going to] direct them. And so, it’s exciting.”
Assuming the claim is true and he’s not ripping off an unused story by somebody else, Matt Reeves is working diligently on expanding the Batman-verse set aside for him since he got the job.
Whatever that will look like in light of Ben Affleck’s return in The Flash and Aquaman 2 — as well as whatever happens with the Snyderverse DC publisher Jim Lee claimed to be dead in the water — we can still expect the show retelling the rise of The Penguin to a kingpin of Gotham to be joined by a series surrounding Arkham that will delve into its denizens; including Joker and the police’s corruption problem.
It’s likewise rumored Penguin’s story will bring to us a grounded take on Clayface based more on the Basil Karlo character created by Bob Kane.