39/24
Following the events of The Batman (2022), Oz Cobb, aka The Penguin, attempts to seize the reins of Gotham’s underworld. Except for the Bat-Signal in the final shot of the season finale, we’ve never met. Cameo appearance by Robert Pattinson in The Penguin. In this short video, IMDb tries to answer: Where the hell was Batman? Colin Farrell fought hard to get his version of the Penguin to smoke tobacco in The Batman (2022), but failed. For his own series, however, the character is described as a casual smoker with a penchant for cigars. The DC Studios logo is plastered on a rainy Gotham alley. An umbrella falls and the logo changes to the Warner Bros. logo. Featured on The Graham Norton Show: Lady Gaga/Demi Moore/Colin Farrell/Richard Ayoade/Jack Savoretti (2024). The first installment is a direct sequel to Matt Reeves’ novel Batman, and I imagine those who haven’t seen the latter will be a bit lost. But I watched The Batman a while ago, and this series did an admirable job of quickly reacquainting me where the movie left off, and without bogging me down in a didactic recap. It also captures the film’s aesthetic and dark tone well, though the series has many more moments of sly levity than the film. As in The Batman, Colin Farrell does a great job of portraying the Penguin as a stereotypical gangster; “street guy” – rough, profane, moody, and quick to violence; but also skilled, cunning, and able to read people. The character may have absolutely nothing to do with the comic version, but is interesting in his own right; and I don’t know if the Penguin’s machinations will be enough to sustain a full season. But so far, it’s off to a great start.