Warner Bros. Pictures released the first official trailer for Matt Reeves' The Batman at DC FanDome. The preview gave fans their first official look at Colin Farrell, nearly unrecognizable as Oswald Cobblepot a.k.a. the Penguin. Fans weren't the only ones who didn't clock Farrell as the classic DC Comics villain at first; his co-star Jeffrey Wright admitted that he was among those who were fooled.
Earlier this year, set photos of Colin Farrell caused fans to believe that his incarnation of the Penguin in The Batman would have a different appearance than his shorter, bird-nosed comic book counterpart. However, the first official trailer for The Batman revealed prosthetic and makeup would be used to transform Farrell into a character that more closely resembled the villain in the comics.
During an interview with SiriusXM, Wright, who portrays James Gordon in The Batman, recounted how he wasn't able to recognize Farrell either even when they were on set together. "I’ve worked with that makeup artist before and it’s just incredible. Colin walked on to set one day and I walked right passed him [laughs] I was like ‘ok, hey dude what’s happening, where’s Colin are we going to shoot.’ It was, it’s pretty remarkable," Wright explained. The makeup designer for The Batman is Naomi Donne, who recently earned an Academy Award nomination for her work in 1917 and previously worked on Quantum Solace in which Wright starred as Felix Leiter.
While Matt Reeves' take on Batman is not the first to offer audiences a grounded and 'realistic' version of the character, Wright explained how the new film still has an opportunity to move the superhero genre in a new direction. "Comic book films have sucked a lot of oxygen from the cinematic room. But with Batman we have an opportunity to use all of the trappings of that genre to explore some things in an American city through a lens of crime, corruption that are really grounded and relevant and interesting. So the detective work there is an exploration of Gotham but it also becomes an exploration of a city very much like New York City," Wright said after noting that he was drawn to the project after reading the script and realizing that it was honoring the concept of Batman being the world's greatest detective.
The Batman was one of the multiple productions forced to shut down earlier this year due to the COVID-19. Fortunately, filming is now scheduled to resume in September, following a six-month hiatus.
While reactions to Colin Farrell's appearance as the Penguin were generally positive, it has also raised questions for some fans. Although Farrell is an admittedly talented actor, the fact this new version of the Penguin appears to be an average human being does raise the question of why the filmmakers couldn't cast someone who wouldn't need the extensive makeup to portray the character.
The Batman is scheduled to be released in theaters on October 1, 2021.
Source: SiriusXM