HBO presented the latest trailer for The Penguin at San Diego Comic-Con, teasing even more violence and big moves among Gotham’s criminals. A spinoff of Matt Reeves’ The Batman movie, The Penguin follows Oz Cobb on his mission to become the ruler of Gotham’s underworld.
The trailer starts with Oz (Colin Farrell) talking about how the American dream should be that honest people should succeed, but the world doesn’t work that way. As he makes a pitch to lead Gotham, the trailer features a scene from Sofia Falcone’s (Cristin Milioti) violent history. Oz is warned about going up against Sofia, and he reveals to Victor Aguilar (Rhenzy Feliz) that he plans to take control of the drug trade.
Farrell made a virtual appearance during the panel, alongside fellow series stars Milioti and Feliz, showrunner Lauren LeFranc, executive producers Reeves and Dylan Clark, and Penguin prosthetics creator Mike Marino.
Reeves revealed that while he was writing The Batman, he realized that there was enough story for a series, but DC wasn’t making TV shows with HBO yet. He considered starting The Batman Part II with an exploration of Oz Cobb’s rise, and it was at that point that a series became possible.
Farrell talked about the first time he saw a bust of the character that Marino had created. He stated that it gave him ideas about the character, his history, and the violence in his life.
Reeves confirmed that Penguin will appear in The Batman II, which is slated for release in 2026.
The Penguin was originally going to be a Max original series, but pivoted to an HBO project, so now it will run on both the HBO cable channel and stream on Max. The series debuts on HBO and Max on September 19, 2024.