The Penguin star Colin Farrell recently opened up about Matt Reeves’ The Batman spinoff series, teasing an “incredibly twisted” story. The series focused on The Penguin’s rise to power in the underworld of Gotham City, and when talking about the tone of that story, Farrell said:
“We wrapped it, man. We did it. Stuck a fork in it about two weeks ago. It was a long and really wonderful experience. And it’s dark, that’s what I can tell you about it. It’s really dark, and really heavy, I think, certainly it was doing it. Which is not to say I didn’t have fun. I had an amazing time. But it’s incredibly violent.”
I think that’s what fans were expecting from the series. Dark and violent is in line with what The Batman was. He goes on to talk about the story, saying:
“It’s one man’s rise to what he’s always dreamed of inhabiting, which is a certain power or social status. And the death of Carmine Falcone at the end of the film leaves this vacuum in Gotham to be filled. And so there are various people that are grabbing for that power and this is Oswald’s journey, trying to rise to the top, through extraordinary obstacles and it’s super dark. Lauren LeFranc wrote a really twisted eight hours of television.”
The eight-episode Penguin series has been described as a “Scarface-like” series that will see the rise of the villain in the criminal underworld of Gotham City. When previously talking about the movie, Farrell said: “I think it’s going to be eight parts for HBO around Oz’s rise into power, filling that power vacuum that was created when Falcone was killed. Matt [Reeves]’s idea originally was to have the Penguin show begin about a week after the end of the Batman film. And then, if it works, if the trajectory is interesting enough and if the audience go for it and we do our jobs right, have the second film – Penguin feature in the second film and pick up where the HBO show will end.”
During another interview, Farrell shared that he read the first script and teased what we can expect from the opening scene of the series, sharing: “Gotham is still somewhat underwater. I read the first script for the first episode, and it opens up with my feet splashing through the water in Falcone’s office. Even just that alone, I read it, I was like, ‘Oh, jeez.’”
The series stars Cristin Milioti, who plays female lead Sofia Falcone, and Rhenzy Feliz, who is playing a teen whom The Penguin befriends and makes his driver. The rest of the cast includes Michael Kelly (House of Cards, Jack Ryan), Shohreh Aghdashloo (The Expanse, House Of Sand And Fog) and Deirdre O’Connell (Outer Range).
Lauren LeFranc will serve as writer and showrunner on the series, and when talking about it, he said, “I have long been a fan of the world of The Batman, and Matt’s film is such a powerful and bold entry into the canon. I am excited and humbled to continue telling stories in the grimy world of Gotham City – and what better excuse to channel my inner villain than to tell the story of Oswald Cobblepot? I am thrilled to work with Colin, Matt, Dylan, 6th & Idaho, Warners, and HBO Max as we work to bring this story to the screen.”
The series is set to premiere sometime this fall. Are you excited about the show?
Source: MovieZine
