Colin Farrell recently told Total Film magazine that he’s not sure about returning as Oswald Cobblepot for a potential second season of “The Penguin” given what a burden it is to emotionally and physically transform into the infamous Batman villain. Farrell debuted as the gangster in 2022’s “The Batman.” The first season of “The Penguin” kicks off this month on HBO and Max.
“I don’t know, man,” Farrell said. “Don’t get me wrong – I loved it – but it got in on me a little bit. By the end of it, I was bitching and moaning to anyone who would listen to me that I fucking wanted it to be finished. I tried to remind them that I had ‘grumpy gratitude.’ I was still grateful, and still honored – I grew up watching Burgess Meredith [who played the role in the ’60s TV series], and then Danny DeVito [in Tim Burton’s 1992 film ‘Batman Returns’] was my Penguin – so being a part of the lineage of that storytelling, I really did feel privileged. But by the end of it…”
“It’s not like I didn’t know who I was and I was going out and burning cars and shit, but… if you take what Matt Reeves created and then what Lauren [LeFranc, showrunner] did and what Mike [Marino, prosthetics and make-up designer] did and put them all together, it was a really powerful experience,” he continued. “Lauren said, ‘Look, if I could find a way that makes sense, would you talk about it?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely.’ And maybe in a year I would. But when I finished I was like, ‘I never want to put that fucking suit and that fucking head on again.’”
Farrell will already have to put on the Penguin suit again for “The Batman 2,” which goes into production next year and opens in theaters on Oct. 2, 2026. The film’s director, Matt Reeves, recently confirmed that Farrell’s Penguin is involved in the sequel film and that “The Penguin” series leads directly into the story of the movie that he’s telling.
“Colin [Farrell] will be part of the movie,” Reeves said about the Penguin’s return. “We’ve shared [the script] as we’ve been going along with DC and the studio and they’re super excited. There are details that actually connect right into the way the next movie begins, and the way that Oz enters that world as we hand the baton back to Batman, and Batman is on another case.”
However, there’s a big difference between filming a movie and shooting a multi-episode season of television. So perhaps Farrell will be more inclined to suit up for “The Batman 2” than he is for “The Penguin” Season 2. “The Penguin’s” first season kicks off on Sept. 19.
Source Agencies
