Don’t blink, or you might miss ‘The Penguin’ resurrecting the last Batman villain you were expecting to see

While The Penguin is a spinoff focused on the rise to power of one of the Dark Knight’s most famous adversaries, the limited series is also a direct sequel to 2022’s The Batman. That means the show explores the lasting influence of the movie’s villains.

Spoiler alert: The following article contains spoilers for episode 1 of The Penguin, “After Hours.”

Matt Reeves’ The Batman flips the script with the Riddler (Paul Dano), turning him into a dark reflection of the Caped Crusader and Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson). Like Bruce, Riddle was an orphan. However, without a multimillionaire inheritance, he grew up in crowded public orphanages, where babies died from the cold in winter, and children were lucky if rats didn’t bite their fingers in the middle of the night. So, like Batman, Riddler decided to put on a mask and fight Gotham’s injustices.

In The Batman, Riddler is the personification of vengeance motivated by social injustice. In just a few weeks, Riddler kills crooked cops and dirty politicians, while also unveiling a conspiracy led by mobster Carmine Falcone (John Turturro). As it turns out, the Falcones have been using public money while everyone turns a blind eye and grabs a piece of the cake, including the mayor and the district attorney. In short, the people who were supposed to look out for those who are in need have condemned the masses to a life of violence and poverty. Meanwhile, public money goes into the pockets of greedy people.

While Riddler’s methods are revolting, his anger is justified. It’s no wonder, then, that Riddler’s message keeps resonating in Gotham during the events of the critically acclaimed The Penguin. 

Riddler’s followers are still active in Gotham after The Batman

In The Penguin, Oz Cobb (Colin Farrell) ditches his fancy car and uses public transportation whenever he wants to visit his mother, Francis (Deirdre O’Connell). The Penguin knows how dangerous Gotham’s underworld can be, so he takes every precaution to keep his mother out of sight.

While the Penguin and Victor (Rhenzy Feliz) are in the subway, they cross paths with a masked young man distributing flyers. These flyers have a QR code printed around the interrogation mark Riddler used as his symbol. The flyers also feature the saying “Gotham’s true face,” one of the lines Riddler repeated in his crusade for the truth.

Gotham City has spent decades ensnared by poverty due to corrupt public servants, so people’s trust in public institutions is reasonably low. Plus, the flood Riddler unleashes in The Batman affects only poor neighborhoods. People are scavenging for food on the streets, turning to narcotics, or joining gangs in hopes of surviving. It’s easy to radicalize desperate people, which is why Riddler got so many followers in The Batman, many willing to open fire on a crowd of civilians for “the cause.”

Riddler followers are still around, as The Penguin reveals. They might not be shooting people, but they are still angry at an unfair social system and working to spread the truth about Gotham’s elite. That means his army of goons grows while Riddler is locked in Arkham. If he ever escapes, Batman will have an even harder time catching the killer again.