‘The Penguin’ Premiere Is Taking Over HBO All Weekend Long

The Big Picture

• Prepare for the gritty return to Gotham with Max’s highly anticipated series,
  The Penguin
  , starring Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot.
• The show promises a deep dive into Gotham’s criminal underworld, with a fierce battle for control between Penguin and Carmine Falcone’s daughter, Sofia.
• Don’t miss the premiere on September 19 at 9 p.m. EST, with multiple airings throughout the weekend to satisfy your crime drama cravings.

Max will not hold back when it reintroduces fans to Matt Reeves’ gritty Gotham. When the highly anticipated series, The Penguin, premieres, the platform will allow viewers multiple times to experience Colin Farrell’s return to the Gotham City stage. The In Bruges actor gained widespread attention for appearing as the iconic DC villain Oswald Cobblepot in the 2022 detective thriller, The Batman. Heavily inspired by Jeph Loeb’s comic, The Long Halloween, the film features the closest version to a comic-accurate representation of the character. After the events of The Batman, Oz is primed to take over crime in Gotham when his titular series will pick up.

The Penguin promises to be a deep dive into the criminal syndicates of the crime-ridden city, with the late Carmine Falcone’s (John Turturro) daughter Sofia (Cristin Milioti) creating a significant kink in Oz’s plan. The synopsis for the series is as follows:

“Starring Colin Farrell as Oz Cobb (aka ‘The Penguin’), the DC Studios series continues filmmaker Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” epic crime saga that began with Warner Bros. Pictures’ global blockbuster ‘The Batman.’ Developed by showrunner Lauren LeFranc, the series centers on the character played by Farrell in the film.”

The Penguin will be the first return to Reeves’ version of Gotham since the Zodiac-inspired film and HBO is taking advantage. The limited series will premiere on Thursday, September 19 at 9 p.m. EST. The network will re-air the premiere several times that weekend as well as Sunday, September 22 at 9 — taking over House of the Dragon’s recently vacated spot. The second episode will air the following Sunday, September 29, and will air the following episodes every Sunday night for a total of eight episodes.

‘The Penguin’ May Be the Closest Fans Will Get To ‘Gotham Central’

Reeves has been a long-standing director in the entertainment industry, but his work on The Batman made him a household name. The film finally shows Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson) as The World’s Greatest Detective in earnest and delves into a compelling mystery. This is Reeves’ superpower. He takes comic characters and grounds them in reality. The same seems to be the case for The Penguin.

Viewers will get an inside look at how dangerous these criminal enterprises are without the influence of Batman. Sadly, however, this will be about as close fans of the comics will get to the series Gotham Central. Written by comic powerhouses Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka, the comic book was a fascinating look at the day-to-day lives of beat cops who had to endure outrageous villains such as Mr. Freeze and Firebug. A Gotham P.D. show had initially been in the works at Max but was tragically canceled. Now, all that is left is for The Penguin to pick up the pieces. Gotham Central would have been the perfect property to fit into Reeves’ world. Showing real-world ramifications of the horrors of Gotham, the comic shows a perspective from normal people. The Penguin won’t exactly show this point of view but could ground the criminal world into some semblance of reality. Fans will get the chance to catch the premiere of The Penguin multiple times throughout the weekend, starting September 19 on Max.

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