Colin Farrell Returns As Oswald Cobblepot In 'The Batman' Spinoff 'The Penguin'

Colin Farrell returns as the legendary Batman villain, Oswald Cobblepot, aka The Penguin, in the new live-action television series, "The Penguin." HBO Max finally debuted the first official footage for the show in the newly released "in-production" teaser trailer.

You can check out Farrell underneath piles of impressive prosthetic makeup as he enacts his plan to take over the underworld of Gotham City below:

https://youtu.be/zAPifwlWBP0

The show will serve as a new original series on the upcoming relaunch of HBO Max. Warner Bros. Discovery is relaunching HBO Max as simply "Max" later on May 23, 2023.

The new Max original series comes from creator Matt Reeves, who co-wrote and directed the 2022 hit film, "The Batman."

Based on the featurette, which mixes both behind-the-scenes footage and actual footage from the show, reveals that the series is set primarily after the events of the 2022 film. Gotham City still appears flooded due to the machinations of The Riddler (Paul Dano) in the movie. With Carmine Falcone (John Turturro) dead, The Penguin, formerly Falcone's right-hand man, now seeks to take control of Gotham City. As The Penguin says in the trailer, "The world ain't built for guys like us. That's why we gotta take whatever we decide is ours."

The Penguin looks like he will be ruthless in his goal of taking over Carmine Falcone's empire. The trailer also promotes the series as "The Next Chapter in The Batman Saga." The series looks to embrace the grittier, more grounded style of "The Batman." This show almost resembles "The Sopranos" more than a series based on a DC comic book character.

It will be interesting to see if Robert Pattinson shows up as Bruce Wayne or his vigilante alter-ego, Batman, at some point in the upcoming series. Either way, Pattinson will don the cape and cowl of the Caped Crusader once more for "The Batman II." Reeves will be back to co-write, direct the sequel, and collaborate with Pattinson again. "The Batman II" is currently slated for an October 2025 release as part of DC Studios' DC Elseworlds lineup of film and TV projects.

Farrell's performance as Cobblepot was undoubtedly one of the standouts of "The Batman" movie. Their impressive makeup work for Farrell also earned the film an Oscar nomination for Best Achievement in Makeup & Hairstyling, which was well deserved.

Farrell is also fresh off an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for the acclaimed film, "The Banshees of Inisherin." The role also earned him a Golden Globe Award. It was his first Golden Globe win since 2009 for his performance in the film, "In Bruges."

Other new DC comic book TV series cast members include Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz, Michael Kelly, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Deirdre O'Connell, Clancy Brown, and Michael Zegen. Reeves is the executive producer for the show, with Lauren LeFranc serving as writer and showrunner. Dylan Clark, Bill Carraro, Farrell, and LeFranc are also executive producers. Craig Zobel is attached as executive producer and director of the first three episodes.

"The Penguin" has not yet an official release date, but it's due out later in 2024. The show will stream exclusively on Max.