Why Robert Pattinson’s Batman Is not In Colin Farrell’s HBO Sequence

The upcoming TV sequence “The Penguin” will observe the felony enterprises of Oswald/Oz “The Penguin” Cobb (Colin Farrell), one of many extra charismatic crime bosses within the city hellhole of Gotham Metropolis. This model of the Penguin debuted in Matt Reeves’ 2022 superhero movie “The Batman,” a three-hour epic that re-envisioned Batman (Robert Pattinson) as a humorless husk and Gotham as a metropolis similar to the one seen in David Fincher’s 1995 serial killer movie “Seven.” The Penguin wasn’t the central antagonist of “The Batman,” however he was interrogated fairly sharply by Batman in a single notable scene, and he supplied quite a lot of persona to an in any other case dour movie. 

The Penguin was realized utilizing spectacular make-up results, making Farrell appear to be a very totally different particular person. The make-up was nominated for an Academy Award. The identical make-up might be carried over into “The Penguin.”

Followers of “The Batman” questioned if the title hero would additionally often seem in “The Penguin,” provided that they exist in the identical universe. Certainly, Batman’s rogue’s gallery generally tend to congregate — “The Batman” additionally featured Catwoman, the Riddler, and the Joker — so followers could be postulating if “The Penguin” may also function Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, or any variety of different Batman villains. 

A brand new article within the newest concern of SFX Journal, nevertheless, might douse just a few hopes. The makers of “The Penguin” have acknowledged categorically that Batman is not going to be part of the brand new present, and that they needed to forge a brand new path for the character away from the well-worn superhero. Sorry, Bat-fans, however Batman is working on his personal bat-time and on his personal bat-channel. 

“The Penguin” showrunner Lauren LeFranc defined succinctly that Gotham Metropolis is an fascinating sufficient place with out Batman in it, and {that a} Penguin story will operate completely properly with out that pesky Darkish Knight flitting about. The town, she stated, “deserved to have extra doorways unlocked inside it, and for us to stroll by way of these and see what we expect.” Which is a good level. If Gotham Metropolis was constructed in such a means that it impressed one man to be a Batman, then absolutely there are myriad different individuals making equally outlandish gestures in response to the felony underworld. 

For LeFranc, it was the opposite, non-Batman individuals she needed to consider, believing that the impression can be simply as nice. As she put it:

“I perceive why individuals’s want can be to have Batman, or to assume that until Batman’s in a present or a movie then it would not have the identical punch. […] To me I believe it packs a unique punch. Matt’s movies are by way of the lens of the Batman, so that you’re excessive up, trying down on town. It is a totally different perspective. With Oz, you are within the metropolis streets, you are within the grit and the muck and the grime. He is trying up, desirous to claw his technique to the highest.”

Matt Reeves, who serves as an government producer on “The Penguin,” additionally felt no must insert Batman right into a present the place he’s not wanted. He stated that the present is not lacking something elementary and that audiences are going to know that is Batman’s world anyway. If audiences may settle for the TV sequence “Gotham,” they’d have the ability to settle for “The Penguin.” Reeves can be relying on viewers of “The Penguin” to have seen “The Batman,” figuring out that the occasions of his movie would inform the story of “The Penguin.” “The specter of every part that occurs within the final film is there,” Reeves defined. 

A second movie to function Pattinson as Batman is at present within the works and is scheduled for launch in October 2026. “The Penguin” will debut on September 19, 2024, on HBO and Max.