The Penguin is one of the most iconic villains in Batman’s rogues gallery, but he’s fallen by the wayside in adaptations of the mythos in recent years. The last time he was on the big screen was in 1992’s Batman Returns, as played by Danny DeVito. Robin Lord Taylor’s popular performance in TV’s Gotham might’ve helped revitalize the character, though, as Warner Bros. seems to have big plans for Oswald Cobblepot in the coming years.
We Got This Covered is hearing from our sources – the same ones who told us Jonah Hill would have a role in The Batman – that a Penguin solo movie is yet another supervillain spinoff that the studio is planning on making following the success of Joker. No other details are available at this early stage, or perhaps even settled on, but we’ve been told that it’ll be entirely separate from the DCEU and feature a different actor in the role from the mainstream DC films.
Yes, we’ve known for a while that Penguin will first be making his cinematic return in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, which will include Cobblepot alongside numerous other major foes. We’re still not entirely sure who’ll play the role, though, with various names having been attached to the part over the past few months. Recently, Jonah Hill was said to have been offered either Penguin or Riddler, but it’s believed he ultimately decided to play Edward Nygma.
Other supervillain movies DC is considering include Two-Face, Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Riddler, while we’re also hearing about a Lex Luthor film being in the works, too. So, it’s possible the studio isn’t stopping with just Bat-verse characters.
As for a Penguin flick, Cobblepot’s been portrayed in various ways over the years, so the filmmakers would have a lot of freedom in doing what they like with him. The most effective incarnations, though, are generally those that make the Penguin both despicable and sympathetic at the same time, and that’s certainly what we hope to see here.