The Batman spinoff series is in the works starring Penguin

After the Penguin makes his debut in The Batman, he’ll be waddling over to HBO Max. According to Deadline, the character will be starring in his own solo series on the streaming platform. Director Matt Reeves and producer Dylan Clark will be executive producing the series.

Here’s what we know about the series so far. Lauren LeFranc (Agent of SHIELD) has been hired as the showrunner. It’s being described as “Scarface-like” and will see the character continue to rise in Gotham’s criminal circuit. The series is in early development. Its expected that Colin Farrell, who will star as the character in the film, will be reprising his role.

Penguin solo series in development at HBO Max with Matt Reeves attached

WB and DC must have the utmost confidence in Colin’s performance to believe that the fans will continue to follow his story in a series. It is not to say that he won’t be great in the film – I mean he’s barely recognizable! He’s clearly dedicated to the vision. However, it comes across as far too early to announce a series.

Check him out in the teaser released last year:

I want to ask the question that many aren’t asking though – why Penguin?

Don’t get me wrong. Oswald Cobblepot is an interesting character. The brief description almost comes across as a crime drama with superhero paint thrown on it. We already had that with Gotham over at Fox (which the character was involved heavily in and his story is essentially the same). If that wasn’t enough, he’s not incredibly remarkable among Batman’s Rogue Gallery.

That brings up something else – why are we getting another male starring superhero show? Sure, this will be unique in that our protagonist is actually a villain. Still, this comes across more as a cash grab than anything else.

Plus there are so many other characters in Batman’s line up that you can use!

May I present the case for Catwoman? She’s an anti-hero in most media, sometimes even a hero. She can go toe-to-toe with Batman and make him (occasionally) question his morals. Plus a heist series? They can a lot in that genre because of how rare it is, especially in television.

A fun bonus is that she can go around Gotham and steal from other members of the Rogue’s Gallery. It’ll certainly be a lot more fun to root for her success than watching a crime boss and his drama.

Not only that, but she’s long, long overdue for redemption after her last film outing. More Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, please DC/WB?

We’ll have to wait and see how things develop. It is very early in production so it could always be cancelled, but it’s doubtful.

What do you think about a Penguin series? Are you excited to see more of him before the film is even out or are you team someone-else-from-the-Rogue’s-Gallery? Let us know in the comments below!

The Batman is directed and written by Matt Reeves. It was co-written by Peter Craig. The film stars Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Barry Keoghan, Jayme Lawson, Andy Serkis and Colin Farrell.

See the film in theaters March 4th, 2022.