This article covers a developing story. Continue to check back with us as we will be adding more information as it becomes available.

Max — the new Warner Bros. Discovery streaming service replacing HBO Max — has released the first trailer for The Penguin, an upcoming series starring Colin Farrell as the iconic Batman villain. The series will explore the Penguin’s rise to power in Gotham while the city is still healing from the grim events of Matt ReevesThe Batman.

In The Batman, Farrell’s Penguin worked as the right-hand man for Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), the crime boss who controlled Gotham’s criminal underworld. However, since Falcone dies in the movie, the Penguin is ready to take over as the most ruthless mobster in the city. Max's new footage shows the Penguin thinking about how the chaos left behind by The Riddler (Paul Dano) attack gives him a unique opportunity to seize the moment and rise as the leader he knows he can be. Since Reeves told Collider The Penguin bridges the gap between The Batman and its upcoming sequel, the series should also show how Gotham’s crime families will respond to the Dark Knight threat and the emergency of insane villains such as The Riddler and Joker (Barry Keoghan).

The short teaser doesn’t reveal much about the upcoming series. However, with Reeves in charge of the spinoff series, we can expect the story to take place in the same gritty version of Gotham. Reeves’ The Batman managed to stay true to comic books while delving deep into the social inequality issues that haunt Gotham City, which the Dark Knight cannot punch away. So, it will be interesting to see how the filmmaker expands on this intriguing concept by keeping the story on a street level. From the short teaser, we can already tell the Penguin will be involved in multiple confrontations with law enforcers and other criminals, building his empire with blood, guns, and broken bones.

The Penguin sitting down and looking at something off-camera in The Batman.
Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

RELATED: 'The Penguin's Salvatore Maroni Explained (And Where He Appears in 'The Batman')

How Does The Penguin Fit Into the New DCU?

Even though the new co-heads of DC Studios, James Gunn and Peter Safran, are working on a storyline that’ll spawn through movies, TV, and even games, Reeves’ Gotham will remain its own thing. Thanks to the Elseworlds strategy, Gunn and Safran will allow successful filmmakers to create their own stories with DC characters that will work independently of the main cohesive timeline.

Since 2022’s The Batman scored big at the box office, Warner Bros. Discovery will want to keep Reeves close by for as long as possible. That’s why the company negotiated a multi-year contract with Reeves while they were simultaneously discussing Gunn and Safran’s unified DCU plan. As a result, Reeves is working on The Penguin and other spinoff series that’ll expand his vision for Gotham City. As for Robert Pattinson’s Dark Knight, the hero will rise again in theaters for The Batman: Part II and an unnamed third chapter in a film trilogy.

The new teaser footage confirms The Penguin, a Max Original, is coming to the new streaming service sometime in 2024. Check out the video below: