There’s no sequel to Matt Reeves’ The Batman yet. But to help kill time and fill in some narrative blanks, here comes this prestige miniseries that follows that portly powerbroker, The Penguin, as he carves out his domain in grimy old Gotham City. Will the Dark Knight show up? Doubtful, but comics fans will recognise a lot of the characters who do…
How to watch The Penguin in New Zealand
The Penguin is now streaming in New Zealand on NEON, with new episodes dropping weekly.
The Penguin: Miniseries
What is The Penguin about?
The rise to power of that feathered fiend, Oswald Cobb (shortened from the comics accurate “Cobblepot”), who starts making moves in the criminal underworld a mere week after the events of The Batman. While ol’ Pengy is one of Batman’s more colourful regular foes, expect a much more grounded, gritty approach here.
The cast of The Penguin
An unrecognisable Colin Farrell is ambitious crime boss Oswald “The Penguin” Cobb; Cristin Milioti and Michael Zegen (The Marvellous Mrs Maisel) are Sofia and Alberto Falcone, the surviving children of late mob boss Carmine; the great Clancy Brown is imprisoned mob boss Sal Maroni; Shohreh Aghdashloo (The Expanse) is Nadia Maroni, his wife; Michael Kelly is Johnny Vitti, underboss of the Falcone organisation. Plus James Madio, Scott Cohen, Theo Rossi, François Chau, David H. Holmes, Craig Walker, and Jared Abrahamson round out the cast, with Mark Strong replacing John Turturro as Carmine Falcone for the odd flashback sequence.
The Penguin trailer
Why we’re excited about The Penguin
Colin Farrell is one of the best character actors going right now, and this gritty crime drama takes its cues from such classic comics as Batman: Year One and Batman: The Long Halloween, so dyed-in-the-will Batfans are in for a treat. We’re just hoping that this doesn’t turn into a homework exercise like almost every MCU TV offering. But hey, the reviews have been pretty spectacular.
