HBO announced ‘The Penguin’ as a limited spinoff series set between 2022’s ‘The Batman’ and its upcoming 2026 sequel. Still, Total Film recently questioned lead actor Colin Farrell about a possible second season.
“I don’t know, man,” the actor said when asked if he’d be back for another season. “Don’t get me wrong — I loved it — but it got in on me a little bit. By the end of it, I was bitching and moaning to anyone who would listen to me that I f*cking wanted it to be finished. I tried to remind them that I had ‘grumpy gratitude.’”
“I was still grateful, and still honored – I grew up watching Burgess Meredith [in the ‘60s ‘Batman’ TV series], and then Danny DeVito [in 1992’s ‘Batman Returns’] was my Penguin – so being a part of the lineage of that storytelling, I really did feel privileged. But by the end of it…”
Lauren LeFranc served as the showrunner for the crime drama, while Mike Marino created the prosthetics for the character. Farrell credited both for the show’s ‘really dark,’ ‘really heavy,’ and ‘incredibly violent’ tone.
He also shared why it was hard for him to take on the Oz Cobblepot role again: “If you take what Matt Reeves created and then what Lauren did and what Mike did and put them all together, it was a really powerful experience.”
The process of transforming Farrell into The Penguin took hours each day during filming. He wore prosthetics on his face and teeth, and a separate team worked on his eyebrows and sent them out to set from L.A. Because of this, Farrell previously mentioned that he didn’t feel like he owned the character.
“I have never had such less ownership for a character that I’ve played than this one,” the actor explained to ET. “Like, straight-up, ’cause this show wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for Mike Marino creating the visage of that fella.”
‘The Penguin’ will premiere on September 19 and run for eight episodes until November 10. Colin Farrell will later reprise his role as Oz Cobblepot in Matt Reeves’ upcoming ‘The Batman – Part II.’
