Despite our disappointment at the release date for Matt Reeves’ The Batman Part II being pushed back a year, there’s comfort knowing that we won’t actually have to wait until that film’s October 2, 2026 launch for our next trip to the rain-soaked, crime-ridden streets of Gotham City. Because while Robert Pattinson’s take on the Dark Knight may have been the title character of Reeves’ film, we all know Colin Farrell’s Oswald Cobblepot (aka the Penguin) was the real star of the show.
Now the second trailer (above) is providing the best look yet at the new The Penguin mini-series, which will see Farrell return to his highly celebrated take on the famed Batman villain when it debuts in the latter half of this year.
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The series appears to be carrying over the grim tone and aesthetic from the 2022 reboot of the Caped Crusader’s universe, with the trailer hinting at a continuation of the incredible lighting and camera work that made The Batman such an impressive visual feat. That darkness appears to run through the deeds of the new series’ characters as well, with flashes of violence interspersed with Cobblepot telling a story about the local gangster in the neighbourhood where he grew up.
A recent MovieZine interview with Farrell backs this up, with the actor revealing that the series might go even further than the movie that spawned it: “It’s dark; that’s what I can tell you about it. It’s really dark. It’s really heavy, I think, it certainly was doing it, which is not to say I didn’t have fun. I had an amazing time doing it. It’s incredibly violent. It’s one man’s rise to what he’s always dreamed of inhabiting, which is a certain power or social status.”
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Joining Farrell for this gritty journey through Gotham’s underbelly is an impressive cast, including Cristin Milioti (Palm Springs, The Wolf of Wall Street, Fargo) as Sofia Falcone, who’s mobster father died at the hands of the Riddler in The Batman; Clancy Brown (The Shawshank Redemption, Starship Troopers) as competing gangster Salvatore Maroni; and maybe even Robert Pattinson himself, if the cameo rumours are anything to go by.
With The Penguin landing on the USA’s Max streaming service in the fall—Aussies will get to watch it on Binge in our corresponding spring—we can’t wait to see what Farrell and co have in store. Check out the trailer above.
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