The Batman will hit theaters in just a few months, but HBO Max already has plans to expand this new vision of Gotham City. Variety is reporting that Colin Farrell has signed on to reprise his role as Oswald Cobblepot in HBO Max’s Penguin spinoff series. Reports about The Batman‘s latest spinoff first emerged in September, but Farrell wasn’t attached to the project at that time.
Writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane created Penguin in 1941, and he has become one of Batman’s most enduring adversaries. Despite his grotesque appearance, Penguin tends to spend time among Gotham City’s high-society members, while also using his assortment of trick umbrellas to commit crimes. In the first Batman live-action TV series from 1966-68, Penguin was played by Burgess Meredith, while Danny DeVito took over the role in 1992’s Batman Returns. Robin Lord Taylor portrayed a younger Oswald Cobblepot in Fox’s 2014 Gotham series.
According to Variety, the Penguin series will follow in Gotham‘s footsteps by chronicling Oswald’s rise to power in the criminal underworld. Farrell will executive produce alongside The Batman director Matt Reeves and Dylan Clark. Lauren LeFranc will write the series and is also attached as the showrunner.
This will actually be Farrell’s second stint on an HBO series. He headlined the second season of HBO’s True Detective. Farrell’s previous film credits include Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, Daredevil, The Lobster, and In Bruges.
HBO Max is already planning a separate spinoff from The Batman, which is centered on a corrupt member of the Gotham police department. That show will be set one year before the events of The Batman, but no stars have been confirmed for it yet. Reeves is also executive producing that unnamed spinoff, with Joe Barton slated to write the show and serve as the showrunner.
Presumably, Farrell could also reprise his role as Penguin in any sequels to The Batman. Farrell has indicated that he only appears in a few scenes in The Batman, which focuses on Batman (Robert Pattinson) and his conflict with both Riddler (Paul Dano) and Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz) during Bruce Wayne’s second year as the Dark Knight.
The Batman will hit theaters on March 4, 2022.
