You won’t see too much of Colin Farrell’s Penguin in The Batman

With many different Batmen over the past two decades, you might expect fans to be tired of seeing yet another person don the cowl to tell the story of the caped crusader once again. After Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy saw Christian Bale take on the role and then Ben Affleck wear the cape for a pair of films for what was hoped to be a long stint for the character in an interconnected universe, you could forgive fans for feeling Batman fatigue. However, the more news that comes out about director Matt Reeves’ new take on the character starring Robert Pattinson, the more hope there is that this movie will be something different and exciting.  

It’s not so much the story of Bruce Wayne himself that has my attention, but largely all the villains that are going to be featured in the movie. While little is known about the script, the film is said to feature members of Batman’s rogues gallery including Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Paul Dano as Edward Nashton/Riddler and Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobbeplot/Penguin. The latter in particular was a surprising choice for the film, but one that has the potential to add something different to the role. In a recent interview with GMA News, Farrell got to share a bit about his excitement for the role, including revealing that his character isn’t a big part of the film:

I had only started it and I can’t wait to get back. The creation of it, the aesthetic of the character, has been fun and I really am so excited to get back and explore it. And I haven’t got that much to do. I have a certain amount in the film. I am not all over it by any means. But there are a couple of some tasty scenes I have in it and my creation and I can’t wait to get back. Yeah, I totally feel like it is something that I have not had the opportunity to explore before. It feels original and fun. But I am only at the start of the journey so I can’t wait to get back and really get into it.

One of the concerns of including too many characters and villains in a movie is that they can get diluted and you lose the character development they deserve. This is one of the risks that The Batman is taking, but it appears that based on Farrell’s comments that his role won’t be a big one, suggesting that his story may just be more of an origin for the character and a minor role, with another villain probably taking centre stage and possibly leaving Farrell open for another movie where his Penguin really be utilized.

I certainly like the idea of Matt Reeves’ Batman approach spanning several different films and having villains developed and set up for later movies certainly adds to the impressiveness of the story. The big question then though is who will be the big villain in the film? Will it be Dano’s Riddler, Kravitz’s Catwoman or could we possibly be seeing a bigger villain that hasn’t been announced just yet?

Last Updated: May 19, 2020