"The Penguin" is the first of two live-action DC Comics treats coming our way in 2024.
Before Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga are united in Todd Phillips' "Joker: Folie à Deux" in theaters this October (and after "Batman: Caped Crusader" hits Prime Video), we're returning to Matt Reeves' grim vision of Gotham City for "The Penguin", a new HBO and Max original TV series
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. And from what Farrell said when the series was first announced, he's very excited to be back for more chaos.
"The world that Matt Reeves created for "The Batman" is one that warrants a deeper gaze through the eyes of [Oz Cobb]", Farrell said in a statement. "I couldn't be more excited about continuing this exploration of Oz as he rises through the darkened ranks to become The Penguin. Will be good to get him back on the streets of Gotham for a little madness and a little mayhem".
Just a few weeks after a new teaser trailer landed, HBO gave us another look at "The Penguin" in the form of a new trailer that debuted at San Diego Comic-Con, and gave us an exact release date! Read on for all that info and everything else we know about "The Penguin" right now...
"The Penguin" release date
"The Penguin" finally has an exact release date. You can look forward to watching "The Penguin" when the show premieres on HBO on Thursday, September 19 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. New episodes will debut on a weekly basis, and you'll be able to stream "The Penguin" on Max, too.
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 "The Penguin" to arrive? Check out our guide to the best shows on Max that you can stream right now.
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 hasn't been shy about teasing us with footage from "The Penguin," and we've just had another fresh look at the series. "The Penguin" official trailer debuted at SDCC 2024 in July.
Beginning with Oz making a solemn promise that he's working on securing a better life for his ma, we see him set out to seize that better life by hustling his way up in the world. We see a snippet of Sofia's time in Arkham Asylum and plenty of shoot-outs. This is shaping up to be a TV show you won't want to miss.
Below, we've embedded the previous teaser, which introduced us to Sofia Falcone, and gave us a rough idea of what was to come. From what we've seen so far, this is shaping up to be a grimy crime caper worth watching.
If you're desperate to see as much from the show as possible, you can also find links to the other teaser trailers that HBO has put out so far:
'The Penguin' plot: What's the spin-off about?
If you were hoping for an official synopsis, you're out of luck. The Max landing page for "The Penguin" simply reads: "Starring Colin Farrell, this HBO Original series continues the epic crime saga Matt Reeves began with "The Batman." It doesn't exactly give us much to work with, does it?
Going by the trailers (which you can find later in this article), we know that the series chiefly follows Oz Cobb as he wages war against rival Gotham crime families. That war also sees him crossing paths with Sofia Falcone ... though it's unclear exactly what kind of working relationship the duo will have just yet.
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."
How is "The Penguin" shaping up?
From what we've seen so far, "The Penguin" certainly looks like a compelling spin-off. It's had the appearance of being a gritty, grounded crime drama from the jump, and every subsequent teaser we've seen since has only reinforced that perception.
Now we have a clearer idea of what we're dealing with, I can't wait to see Oz Cobb pursue his version of the American Dream on the streets of Gotham. Also, as a big fan of Reeves' aesthetic for "The Batman", I'm glad it looks like that look's been preserved here.
I also hoped that "The Penguin" would feed properly into "The Batman 2", and it looks like my wish will be fulfilled. At SDCC 2024, Matt Reeves confirmed that shooting on the new movie would commence in 2025 and that Farrell's version of Oswald Cobblepot would play a part in the new movie. The director claimed that they need Oz Cobb in a "certain place" for the new movie, whatever that means...
