‘The Penguin’ Was Originally the First Act of ‘The Batman Part II’ [Exclusive]

In a conversation with Collider’s Christina Radish, Dylan Clark, a producer on The Batman and executive producer on The Penguin, revealed that the spin-off series starring Colin Farrell as Oz Cobb originally began as part of the plan for The Batman Part II. In fact, according to Clark, the rise of Cobb — seen as a mid-level gangster in The Batman — was initially supposed to kick off the second film in Matt Reeves’ planned trilogy.

With Farrell’s performance in The Batman receiving rave reviews, the decision to focus on Cobb’s ascent in the Gotham underworld was a natural progression for the franchise. Clark explained how The Penguin evolved from this initial concept into its own standalone HBO Max series:

“One of the first drafts of
The Batman
was long. Matt [Reeves] storyboards in the scripts, and it was just so detailed and delicious, but it was busting at the seams… And then, in a meeting with Casey [Bloys] and Sarah [Aubrey], he said, ‘You know, we could do this.’ And the Penguin was just the obvious character to do. Colin [Farrell] was so amazing in our movie. He was only in six scenes. When we tested the movie, he always rated at the top with Rob [Pattinson]. It was like, ‘God, it’s Colin Farrell and he’s such an amazing actor. The way he transforms himself, not just physically but emotionally, inside this character, wouldn’t it be fun to do a gangster show around this guy?’ And then, Casey was like, ‘I want that.’ Matt had to part with some of the ideas that he wanted to explore in movie two.
That rise to power Scarface story that is the beginning of this series was the beginning of movie two.
“

‘The Penguin’ Has Expanded ‘The Batman’s Mythology

The shift in storytelling allowed Reeves and his team to pivot, expanding the Batman universe through the Max series while still keeping a coherent trajectory for the films. By moving the character’s story into a separate series, Reeves could continue to explore Cobb’s transformation while ensuring that the broader vision for The Batman: Part II remained intact.

While The Penguin now has room to fully explore the gangster origins of Cobb, this recalibration has also given Reeves the opportunity to focus on new narratives for The Batman: Part II. According to Clark, this was a balancing act that ultimately opened doors for the creative team:

“It was the right thing to do, to hand it off to [showrunner]
Lauren [LeFranc]
to fill out the emotional and psychological complexity journeys that the series is, and for us to figure out what we were gonna do differently in the sequel.”

By separating these stories, The Penguin will give viewers a deep dive into the character’s journey, while The Batman: Part II continues the story of Bruce Wayne and his evolving role as Gotham’s protector.

The Penguin premieres on HBO on September 19. Stay tuned at Collider for Radish’s full conversation with Clark.

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