The Penguin is set to have his very own HBO series with Colin Farrell keeping his flippers on to portray the unforgettable Batman villain. The new show will act as a spinoff from the upcoming film The Batman, in which Farrell will be portraying the creepy, fish-eating bad guy, Variety reports. Though we knew a series was in the works, Farrell’s involvement had not been confirmed until now. First taking on the role in the Robert Pattinson-starring feature, which is set to premiere on March 4, 2022, Farrell will continue to tell the story of The Penguin as the character slips and slides his way to control Gotham’s most notorious criminals.
Known for a lifelong career full of iconic acting roles, Farrell has appeared in critically acclaimed films including The Lobster, In Bruges (for which Farrell won a Golden Globe), The Killing of a Sacred Deer, and many others. Along with his long list of credits on the silver screen, Farrell has also made a name for himself performing in TV shows such as HBO’s second season of True Detective, and, more recently, the BBC and AMC+’s The North Water. As of late, Farrell linked up once again with Martin McDonough, the writer and director of In Bruges, as well as his co-star, Brendan Gleeson, to put together a new feature titled The Banshees of Inisherin.
Joining Farrell as an executive producer on the new Penguin project will be The Batman director Matt Reeves who will work under his banner of 6th and Idaho, while The Batman producer Dylan Clark will complete the trio of executive producers while repping his own Dylan Clark Productions. Warner Bros. Television is set to act as producers. Adding to the series with her talented writing skills is Lauren LeFranc, who will be penning the script.
Throughout the years, The Penguin, aka Oswald Cobblepot, has been played by a star-studded list of actors such as Burgess Meredith, Danny DeVito, and Robin Lord Taylor.
HBO Max has been busy working on and announcing a wide array of new content coming to the network from DC. The DC Universe’s hit film The Suicide Squad is getting its very own spinoff on the platform via John Cena in Peacemaker, as well as a new Green Lantern series brought to us by Greg Berlanti, a Batgirl movie starring Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon, and a Black Canary movie with Jurnee Smollett set to reprise her role from Birds of Prey, as well as a Val Zod series from Michael B. Jordan. Getting his hands back into the world of DC will be J.J. Abrams who is set to bring a new series titled Justice League Dark to the platform. The Penguin project will be in good company as well, with a new spinoff series by Joe Barton that will focus on the inside goings-on at the Gotham Police Department and which was recently ordered by HBO Max.
There is currently no release date yet for the Farrell-led Penguin series.