As a spinoff of The Batman, The Penguin‘s story is tied to Matt Reeves’ beloved movie. However, Episode 7 pushes the show’s logic to its brink by not having the Dark Knight glide to an atrocious crime scene.
From a production’s point of view, it makes sense that Robert Pattinson’s Batman doesn’t have a cameo in The Penguin. The show is about Oswald Cobb’s (Colin Farrell) ascension to the position of Gotham City’s kingpin, so the creative team wants to keep all eyes on the villain. Of course, fans were bound to be disappointed by this decision, which is why Reeves warned everyone of Batman’s absence even before The Penguin‘s premiere.
Nevertheless, knowing the Dark Knight would not appear in The Penguin didn’t prevent fans from looking for signs of Batman in every dark corner. For the series’ first episodes, it was easy to think Bruce Wayne would be recovering from his battle against Riddler’s (Paul Dano) goons or maybe figuring out how to be more than a symbol of fear. After all, most of The Penguin’s events happen in just a few days. Yet, it became harder to believe Batman would not look into Gotham City’s gang wars after Episode 6, which features a significant time jump and shows how a new drug, Bliss, has flooded the streets.
Episode 7 takes everyone’s suspension of disbelief to its breaking point. In it, Sofia Gigante (Cristin Milioti) sends a bomb to Oz’s underground base of operations, literally blowing his business off the map. The explosion also creates a massive hole in the middle of Crown Point, the same neighborhood affected by Riddler’s flood. That means the people of Crown Point were already struggling to survive before the gang war blew them up into pieces. There’s no way Batman would just ignore this event. Right? Well, that might be the point.
It makes no sense for Batman to ignore ‘The Penguin’s events, but that might be the point
After the end of The Batman, Bruce Wayne learns that he does more good to Gotham City when he tries to help people and be a symbol of hope than when he punches lowlife criminals in the face to become a symbol of fear. So, it’s fair to assume that Bruce is using Wayne’s fortune to help the people of Gotham recover from Riddler’s terrorist attacks. There’s no way Bruce would not be involved in Crown Point, helping to turn the lights back on, for instance. Yet, it’s the Penguin who does the job. Likewise, Batman would be all over Bliss once he heard about a new drug poisoning Gotham. But the Penguin’s only challenger is Sofia. There has to be a reason for this.
Reeves underlined how The Penguin sets the stage for The Batman Part II, the director’s highly-anticipated sequel. So, maybe disgruntled fans should start asking why Batman is nowhere to be seen. We can all agree that, at this point, it makes no sense for the Dark Knight to keep avoiding Oz. He had time to heal, time to rethink his crimefighting approach, and time to investigate the deaths of the Falcones. The only logical conclusion is that something is preventing Batman from protecting Gotham. Whatever it may be, it’s probably the threat from The Batman Part II.
There are still no details available on the plot of The Batman Part II, but thanks to Pattinson’s absence from The Penguin, we can know one thing. Someone has trapped Bruce Wayne or sent him away for a long time, enough for Oz to take control of Gotham. Whoever the responsible are, they surely will be formidable foes for the sequel.