He may have drawn some unfavorable comparisons to character actor Richard Kind, but you’d have to think the makeup team from The Batman is in line for an Academy Award looking at what they did to the roguishly handsome Colin Farrell.
When the actor was first announced to be playing Oswald Cobblepott, most fans were quizzical as to whether or not we’d be getting a sexy Penguin, even sexier than Danny DeVito if you can believe such heresy. Of course, those doubts were dispelled when set photos and videos began making the rounds during production, with many people shocked at the Golden Globe winner’s unrecognizable transformation.
We know that The Batman will be an origin story of sorts for Penguin, Riddler and Catwoman, but director Matt Reeves dove deep into his plans for Mr. Cobblepot in an interview with Empire, where he compared him to The Godfather‘s Fredo Corleone.
“There’s a touch of John Cazale as Fredo in The Godfather. He’s a mid-level mobster guy and he’s got a bit of showmanship to him, but you can see that he wants more and that he’s been underestimated. He’s ready to make his move.”
Farrell has also agreed a deal to get back into the makeup chair for an HBO Max spinoff series, which presumably takes place after we’re introduced to the all-new Penguin in The Batman, which could fill in some of the narrative gaps before we get to the sequel we can safely assume is happening eventually.
