The Batman Director First Suggested Penguin Spinoff As A Movie

When The Batman director Matt Reeves first idly suggested Colin Farrell’s Penguin get a spinoff, he actually envisioned it as a movie. This week, Reeves’ The Batman will turn the DC universe on its head. The eagerly-anticipated film has been in the works for several years now and endured a handful of delays at the hands of the coronavirus pandemic, but it is finally ready to make its way out into the world. Robert Pattinson stars as Bruce Wayne, now in his second year of being Gotham’s controversial vigilante. Though this project comes from Warner Bros., the home of the inter-connected DCEU, The Batman takes place within its own world.

And yet, said world is being positioned to become its own inter-connected universe. In addition to the big screen sequels that are almost certainly on the way, Warner Bros. and Reeves are working on two HBO Max spinoffs. The first involves the Gotham PD and Jim Gordon (Jeffrey Wright), while the second follows the rise of crime lord Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot, aka the Penguin. Farrell plays Oswald for The Batman, but since the movie only features him as a mid-level figure in Gotham’s crime world, his forthcoming spinoff will reveal how he becomes the notorious villain fans know so well.

The Penguin spinoff, like the Gotham PD project, will be a show on HBO Max. However, when Reeves casually mentioned it to the execs at Warner Bros., he described it as something else. Speaking to Variety as part of a recent profile, Reeves revealed he thought the Penguin’s transformation into a kingpin could be covered in The Batman 2. However, that’s not what WB thought. “And they were like, ‘Oh, we want to do that as a show,’” Reeves recalled.

And just like that, a full HBO Max show was born. It’s mentioned that the Penguin spinoff is closer to filming than the GCPD show is, which isn’t too surprising considering the recent teases from their likely stars. While Wright has said he’s mainly focusing on the release of The Batman, Farrell has hyped up all the potential the Penguin series holds. Over the past few weeks, Farrell has revealed the show could be rated R and that it will likely pick up not long after The Batman ends.

A Penguin-centric Batman sequel sounds very intriguing, but WB’s decision to instead make it a TV show feels like the smarter move. Without knowing exactly where The Batman leaves Oz, it seems likely that he won’t be in a position of power. The kind of development required to turn him into the Penguin would be better served over a series of episodes rather than a 2 hour-long movie. This way, Reeves and the creative team (which includes Lauren LeFranc as a writer) can properly dig into Oz’s evolution and make it a truly satisfying arc. The Penguin spinoff really sounds like it’s making true progress, so stay tuned for more updates.