Fans who are looking for a glimpse of Robert Pattinson's Batman in the spinoff series The Penguin will be disappointed. Matt Reeves, who directed the 2022 feature The Batman, revealed that they did think about including a cameo from Pattinson in the series, but they didn’t want the character to overshadow the focus of the series from Oz Cobb, the protagonist, played by Colin Farrell. Here’s what Reeves had to say about a reunion between Batman and Penguin.
Matt Reeves says they thought about bringing back Batman
In an interview with TV Insider, Reeves spoke about the behind-the-scenes chats the makers had about including Batman on The Penguin. He said, “Batman is such a powerful figure that if he comes in, he could mess with the narrative in a way. It would suddenly, in a way, be taken over by Batman, and we wanted this to be Oz’s moment, Sofia’s moment, Francis’s moment, Vic’s moment, and let this story be told. See the story of him having his rise, and so we toyed with it. We tried to find the moment. We could never quite find the moment that didn’t step on what was important, which was telling their stories, [Oz’s] stories.”
The Penguin, which premiered on September 20, picks up one week after the events of Reeves’s The Batman. It features Oz Cobb attempting to take over the crime scene in Gotham after the death of Carmine Falcone.
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About the spinoff series The Penguin
Farrell reprises his role as Oz Cobb from The Batman feature. The first episode saw Oz commit a grievous mistake with Alberto Falcone (Michael Zegen) and go up against his sister Sofia (Cristin Milioti). He reluctantly adopts a teenage sidekick named Victor Aguilar (Rhenzy Feliz).
Lauren LeFranc is the showrunner on the eight-part series, while Craig Zobel has directed the first three episodes. The Penguin streams on HBO and Max internationally; in India, you can catch the spinoff show on Jio Cinema Premium every Monday.