Josh Gad Explains All Those Penguin Rumors For The Batman

Virtually nothing is known about Matt Reeves’ The Batman at this point other than the fact that Robert Pattinson will be suiting up to play the title character, and that the plot may or may not involve Arkham Asylum and a huge ensemble featuring some of the Dark Knight’s most iconic adversaries.

As is often the case with such a high-profile comic book blockbuster though, the internet has been rife with speculation surrounding both the plot and the cast. One of the longest running rumors was the involvement of Josh Gad as the Penguin, with the actor himself only fanning the flames by continually taking to social media and dropping some not-so-subtle hints.

This went on for years, with Gad posting multiple Penguin-related images on his Twitter, with the fans responding in kind by creating art showing how he would look as the character. However, in June, Gad finally admitted that the entire thing had been done for his own amusement, and that he had nothing to do with The Batman whatsoever.

Letting the cat out of the bag seems to have been a relief for Gad, with the actor admitting in a recent interview that he had taken the whole thing too far, and the speculation surrounding him as the Penguin was starting to get out of hand.

“I felt like I was just taking it to a point that it just went too far. I’ve had so much fun with it, but it was just something where I was like, ‘I should really put this to bed.’ Everyday, I started getting asked questions about it. And I’m like, ‘As far as I know, I am not the Penguin.’ I need to put this all to bed then.”

In all honesty, it was getting tiresome to see every second or third article about The Batman dedicated to Josh Gad playing the Penguin. The back-and-forth literally went on for over two years and never moved past being anything other than one person spreading fan-baiting rumors, so it’s a relief to know that Gad has finally come clean. And besides, it also allows the rumor mill to move on to somebody else.