The spin-off series about the Penguin will focus on the Batman character called Oswald Cobblepot (whose alter ego is precisely the Penguin) and will be presented as a “story to the Scarface“.
The announcement was made by Dylan Clark, the producer of the film The Batman who will also be in charge of this spin-off series, produced for HBO Max.
“We are curating this TV series with Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot, which will show the rise of Oz, and will be comparable to a story in the Scarface. I can say that it’s exciting to do something like that, curating it as a project in itself, but it’s something that speaks to the character and to our own film. When people will look back The Batman they will understand how some lines relate to the whole previous story “, said Dylan Clark in an interview with SFX Magazine.
Colin Farrell will once again step into the role of Oswald Cobblepot-Penguin.
His own penguin will be something like Al Pacino’s Tony Montana in Scarfaceaccording to the words of the producer of the project.
The Batman is the highly anticipated film co-produced, co-written and directed by Matt Reeves which stars as Bruce Wayne / Batman a Robert Pattinson who appears to be in a state of grace (inspired by Kurt Cobain to return a haunted character).
The film will be released in US theaters on March 4, while the distribution in Italy will take place a day earlier, anticipating that American one: from us The Batman will be released on March 3.
Many iconic Gotham City residents feature in the film, including the Penguin played by Farrell.
The film will be thriller and noir genre and will follow the protagonist in his second year of career as a masked hero. We will see him fight against the Catwoman played by Zoë Kravitz, the Riddler played by Paul Dano and Carmine Falcone in whose part John Turturro plays.
But among the most anticipated antagonists of this film is Farrell’s Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot, the subject of the spin-off television series which has already gone into production.
Farrell’s Penguin
Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot aka Farrell’s Penguin is a very different character from the one played by Danny DeVito in Batman Returns.
The latter was very conspicuous, monstrous and very similar to a horrifying bird. On the other hand, Farrell’s is entirely different, whose physical appearance (and not only physical but also of attitude, gestures and speech) are reminiscent of those of a gangster.
In fact he is a gangster, a Gotham City boss. Even in the case of him, his appearance remains on the monstrous andante, not exactly as it was the Penguin of DeVito but still far from being under the undeniable beauty of the actor Colin Farrell, here.
Let’s say that the star is quite unrecognizable once he has stepped into the role of Batman’s antagonist.
During the promotion campaign for the film, Oz himself attracted the attention of fans, partly because the actor below is not very recognizable and partly because – even only in the few samples of the film that we have up to now enjoy – that character likes it.
But sadly he doesn’t play a major role in the upcoming movie, as the number one villain will be the Riddler.
Because the spin-off series about the Penguin was born
Precisely because of the little space given to Farrell’s Oz in The Batmanit was decided to produce a television series totally dedicated to the character played by the star.
At the end of 2022, the Penguin spin-off project for HBO Max was confirmed. For now there is no official title yet and a potential release window has not even been revealed.
The only certain news about this show are the names of the executive producer and the screenwriter: the first is Matt Reeves, the director, co-writer and co-producer of the reboot of Batman arriving; the second is Lauren LeFranc (Agents of SHIELD.), who would already be working on writing the screenplay.
It seems that the series wants to present itself as an intriguing crime drama in a gangster sauce, evoking atmospheres of the Twenties and Thirties America, those dominated by the figures of Al Capone and associates.
A prequel or a sequel?
If until recently we did not know if the series dedicated to Farrell’s Penguin would have been a prequel or a sequel, or if it would have been set before or after the events told in The Batmannow there is some indiscretion.
It seems that the show wants to explore this character’s past, while also describing his rise to power, with a particular focus on the violence and manipulative talent that characterizes this character. So in the end it could be a mix of prequels and sequels together, with flashbacks and present intertwining.
If in the movie The Batman the villain Falcone came out of the games, certainly there would be the perfect narrative ploy to give the start to both spin-offs expected at HBO. In addition to the one about the Penguin, in fact, there is the one focused on the Gotham City police department.
If Carmine Falcone were beaten in the film, that perfect power vacuum would be created to reconnect the two new projects.
Al Pacino’s Tony Montana in Scarface
It can only make everyone happy the comparison that the producer of the series with Colin Farrell has just made.
Why is Al Pacino’s Tony Montana in Scarface is one of the most unforgettable characters in the history of cinema.
The remake of the 1932 feature film of the same name by director Howard Hawks, directed for the occasion by Brian De Palma and written by Oliver Stone, sets the story that the original film set in Chicago in the 1920s, in full prohibition, in a more recent era, namely that of the 80s, in Miami at the center of drug trafficking.
Playing Tony Montana is an Al Pacino in a state of grace. The Hollywood star has admirably cast himself as the Cuban refugee who arrives in Miami and quickly becomes the most powerful cocaine boss.
His story is followed in a crescendo of tension and pressure, with Tony Montana known as Scarface (the scarface) who finds himself hunted by both Colombian drug cartels and the police.
That film is the tale of the classic rise and fall of a giant, clearly meaning by giant a fascinating character but totally deplorable on a moral level, of course.
The comparison offered by Farrell for his Penguin
If Dylan Clark compares the Penguin to Tony Montana’s ScarfaceColin Farrell himself has instead talked about his character by making a comparison with the character of Fredo del The Godfather And The Godfather Part II.
It refers to the character of Fredo Corleone, played by actor John Cazale.
Oz is characterized by very high ambitions, just like Fredo, however he has always been considered a step below his partners.
In the movie The Batman we will not see the Penguin you read about in the comics, in the sense that he has not yet become a boss, a boss and the all-round villain who will then be consecrated by the pages of comics.
In the film with Pattinson he is a soldier who carries out the orders of another villain, namely Carmine Falcone. He will become the one who has to watch his back, his shadow, his bodyguard.
Source-tg24.sky.it