The Penguin Showrunner Compares Batman Series to Scarface, New Photos Revealed

The Colin Farrell-led The Penguin series is apparently “a Scarface story,” according to lead writer and showrunner Lauren LeFranc.

The upcoming series is a spin-off to the 2022 The Batman feature, which starred Robert Pattinson as the edgy Cape Crusader. The film’s director, Matt Reeves, and producer, Dylan Clark, plan to expand The Batman starting with a series focused on Oz Cobblepot — a villain portrayed by Farrell in the movie.

Now that the actor is gearing up to once again don The Penguin’s prosthetics for the upcoming series, Entertainment Weekly has also shared new images for the crime drama.

What to expect in The Penguin?

The Penguin will follow Cobb’s rise to power in Gotham’s underworld, giving viewers a peek at how he becomes the formidable crime lord he is known for. In an interview with EW, LeFranc shared that the forthcoming limited series is “a Scarface story” and that it is “a rise-to-power story of Oz before he really makes it to the top.”

The showrunner continued, “We’re in Oz’s world. We’re living in the underbelly of the city. Oz is a mover and a shaker. He can’t always be trusted. He’s very smart and very methodical, but he’s also extremely impulsive. You can’t predict what he’s going to do.”

LeFranc then revealed that they created a “bridge between the two films,” referring to Reeve’s The Batman sequel. “We’re going almost directly into the second film Matt has planned.”

Joining Farrell are Rhenzy Feliz as Victor Aguilar, Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone, Michael Zegen as Alberto Falcone, Michael Kelly as Johnny Vitti, Shohreh Aghdashloo as Nadia Maroni, Deirdre O’Connell as Francis Cobb, Clancy Brown as Salvatore Maroni, James Madio as Milos Grapa, Scott Cohen as Luca Falcone, Carmen Ejogo as Eve Karlo, and more.

The eight-episode HBO Original series is set to arrive on both HBO and Max this September.