It seems that DC Comics’ live-action endeavors are dealing with their own Crisis on Infinite Earths; indeed, only the DC Extended Universe can find itself in competition with the very characters it seeks to bring to life on the big screen, with Matt Reeves’ acclaimed film The Batman well on its way to kicking off a shared DC Comics universe of its own.
A sequel to Reeves’ deft character study was already confirmed earlier this year, with Robert Pattinson set to return as the caped crusader, and Paul Dano, who portrayed the Riddler in the first film, has penned Riddler: Year One, a tie-in comic book run focusing on his character’s origin story, set to release on October 25 under DC Comics’ adult-oriented Black Label.
Whispers of an untitled Arkham Asylum series lurk about as well, but outside of the film’s sequel, it looks like all hands are on deck for the upcoming spinoff series The Penguin, which will see Colin Farrell reprise his role as the titular criminal after being a thorn in Bruce Wayne’s side over the course of The Batman.
The film didn’t portray the character at the height of his usual powers; The Batman‘s iteration of the Penguin still has some growing to do before becoming the storied crime lord we all know him for, and looks like that’s exactly what this spinoff will seek to do.
According to Farrell, who spoke with Collider about the spinoff, we can expect a “tasty and unusual” bit of storytelling for one of Batman’s most beloved adversaries of all time.
“I read the first episode, which is just so tasty and so unusual as the character was on the page and what Matt Reeves kind of envisioned when he was thinking of this iteration of the bang up of Oz.”
The Penguin will release as limited series exclusively to HBO Max on a yet-unconfirmed date. In the meantime, Farrell’s latest cinematic endeavor, in the critically-acclaimed The Banshees of Inisherin, is set to release to theaters on Oct. 21.