Matt Reeves' The Batman is drawing closer with less than a year until its release. With only a beautifully moody teaser trailer to go on, fans are still in the dark about the film’s plot and who it will focus on. But after recent news, it seems fans can cross out one character from the list. Colin Farrell, who will be playing the striking villain of The Penguin, claimed that he is on screen for a very short amount of time, with only five or six scenes. While this may not be the case after the film's recent reshoots, fans might be wondering about Reeves' plans for The Penguin.
The Batman is framed as a new retelling of the masked vigilante’s origins, focused more on his detective work than costume and gadgets. To fully introduce this new Bruce Wayne, it needs to be a deep aspect of the script, leading to less time for villains. More importantly, though, is the juggling act that has to happen for villains in The Batman anyway.
Besides Farrell’s Penguin, the film is slated to star Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle (otherwise known as Catwoman), John Turturro as mobster Carmine Falcone, and of course, Paul Dano as the much anticipated Riddler. All of these characters need a proper introduction, so it’s almost impossible for them to shine equally, with one probably becoming Wayne’s main antagonist for the film. If the rumors are right, Dano’s Riddler will be the focus of The Batman, bringing a much darker trickster to the table than fans are used to.
No matter how much of The Penguin we see in The Batman, it’s almost guaranteed that he will be a more grounded version than fans are used to seeing from the “Gentleman of Crime.” While most modern iterations of The Penguin put major emphasis on his costume and makeup to make him more recognizable, Farrell’s Penguin has done a complete flip, his look calling back to the classic comic versions of the character.
This trend can probably extend to the other villains featured in the film — with portrayals that feel more realistic than the original comic series (think Anne Hathaway’s portrayal of Selina Kyle in The Dark Knight trilogy.) Like other actors cast in the film, Colin Farrell has proved himself more than capable of taking on a character with decades of source material and millions of fans behind it. So far though, all of Reeves’ casting choices have been received well, with many fans excited for the path their favorite Batman characters could travel down,
So if he isn’t featured heavily in The Batman, what could be in store for The Penguin in Reeves’ potential other Batman films? If the previous The Dark Knight trilogy can tell us anything, it’s that we can't get a new Gotham City and not use it for at least a few films. A new trilogy or set of movies means a clean playing field, where nothing is immediately out of the question in terms of character development or plot. In Christopher Nolan’s trilogy, there were multiple villains spread out over the three films, including Bane, Scarecrow, and of course, Heath Ledger’s iconic performance as The Joker. It’s possible that The Batman could also follow this route, giving all the villains highlighted in this first film their own films or bigger moments down the line.
It would be interesting to have The Penguin as the main antagonistic force of a Batman film, especially since the last film to do so was 1992’s Batman Returns. Tim Burton’s take on the villain had an intense gothic feel. Combined with the sheer power that Danny Devito gave to the role, and fans were given a darkly funny villain for Bruce Wayne to chase around Gotham.
If The Batman’s tone is dark and gritty like fans expect it to be, The Penguin will be slightly similar to Devito’s delivery on tone, but with less of a dramatic flair. He could be more prone to hiding in the shadows for his screentime in The Batman, dropping easter eggs for die-hard Batman fans and clues for the next films to continue in their plots.
Still, theories and teaser analysis can only get fans so far. It seems that we will have to wait for more information — whether it be in interviews or that elusive first full-length trailer — to get a better idea or answer to what The Batman will have in store for a villain like The Penguin. Let’s just hope that whatever we get in The Batman, big or small, it isn’t the only time we see the iconic character.
The Batman is set to hit theaters on March 4, 2022.