"The Penguin" is proving to be yet another great HBO series.
Before Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga were united in Todd Phillips' "Joker: Folie à Deux", (and after "Batman: Caped Crusader" hit Prime Video), we returned to Matt Reeves' grim vision of Gotham City for "The Penguin", a new HBO and Max original TV show.
Set in the immediate aftermath of everything that happened in "The Batman", this eight-part series continues Reeves' "Batman Epic Crime Saga" by putting Colin Farrell's secondary bad guy in focus.
Ahead of release, fellow TG writer Malcolm McMillan got to check the DC series out, and he dubbed "The Penguin" both a 'must-watch' and 'one of the best shows of the year so far'.
In particular, he praised it for being, first and foremost, a crime story, one which eschews our caped crusader in favor of a journey into Gotham's criminal underworld, and for packing in deep-cut easter eggs. He also singled out Cristin Milioti's performance as Sofia Falcone as the ultimate star of the show.
We're now into the final few chapters of Oz Cobb's crime saga, and it's proven to be a gripping watch. Below, you ca find all the essential info you could need to know about "The Penguin" right now.
'The Penguin' release date & release schedule
"The Penguin" debuted on HBO on Thursday, September 19 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. New episodes have been debuting on a weekly basis on Sunday nights, on both HBO and Max, with the penultimate episode landing on Sunday, November 3.
Originally, the show was being billed as a "Max Original", though earlier in July (per Variety), the HBO team managed to renegotiate international deals that meant both "The Penguin" and "Dune: Prophecy" could stream on on Max and air on HBO.
Need something else to keep you entertained while you wait for new episodes of "The Penguin" to arrive? Check out our guide to the best shows on Max that you can stream right now, or the best shows like "The Penguin" that you should be watching.
The city will be his. Academy Award nominee Colin Farrell is #ThePenguin in the new Max Original Series coming this September to Max. pic.twitter.com/AYAS5ULQr2June 20, 2024
'The Penguin' cast
Being set in Matt Reeves' version of Gotham, "The Penguin" naturally sees Colin Farrell reprising the title role of Oz Cobb. But who else is in "The Penguin" cast? Well, the cast list also includes:
- Criston Milioti as Sofia Falcone
- Rhenzy Feliz as Victor Aguilar
- Michael Kelly as Johnny Viti
- Shoreh Aghdashloo as Nadia Maroni
- Deirdre O'Connell as Francis Cobb
- Clancy Brown as Salvatore Maroni
- James Madio as Milos Grapa
- Scott Cohen as Luca Falcone
- Michael Zegen as Alberto Falcone
- Carmen Ejogo as Eve Karlo
- Theo Rossi as Dr. Julian Rush
'The Penguin' trailers
HBO wasn't shy about been shy about teasing us with footage from "The Penguin" in the run-up to the season premiere; you can find a bunch of clips and trailers below:
'The Penguin' plot: What's the spin-off about?
"The Penguin", unsurprisingly, centers on Farrell's would-be criminal kingpin. Following the collapse of Gotham's seawall, Oz sets out to fill the power vacuum created by the death of Carmine Falcone, setting out to give his mother, Francis (Deirdre O'Connell) the life he's promised her.
Problem is, he's got to contend with Carmine's own children, Sofia and Alberto, the Maroni family, and battle against his own demoralizing reputation as "the Penguin".
Back in 2022, Max's Head of Originals, Sarah Aubrey, gave us an idea of the show's core idea in an interview with Variety. "The goal of this is to show what Oz's life is like and that's very much in the streets of Gotham, trying to get up and over as only the Penguin can, As a hustler and a strategist with his own ambitions," Aubrey said.
"It is a great example of having the time over eight episodes to tell a longer-arc character story with a lot of delicious twists and turns and new characters. It's very much going to be about Gotham at that street level because he's not flying around like Batman does. We are all embracing that as a very specific experience for audiences to have."
