The Penguin is an upcoming American crime drama television limited series created by Lauren LeFranc for HBO.
Based on the DC Comics character Penguin, it is a spin-off from the film The Batman (2022) that explores the Penguin’s rise to power in Gotham City’s criminal underworld. LeFranc is the showrunner of the series, produced by DC Studios in association with Warner Bros. Television.
The Penguin Cast
Colin Farrell as Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot / Penguin: The disfigured former chief lieutenant of deceased crime boss Carmine Falcone who is on the rise to becoming a criminal kingpin in his own right.
Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone / Hangman: Carmine’s daughter and a psychopathic serial killer who, after being released from Arkham Asylum, fights Cobblepot for control of Gotham’s criminal underworld
Rhenzy Feliz as Victor Aguilar: A teenager who befriends Cobblepot and becomes his driver
Michael Kelly as Johnny Vitti: The underboss of the Falcone crime family
Shohreh Aghdashloo as Nadia Maroni
Deirdre O’Connell as Francis Cobb: Cobblepot’s mentally disturbed mother
Clancy Brown as Salvatore Maroni: A mob boss and drug trafficker whose operation ended following a historic drug bust, in which Carmine was the informant
James Madio as Milos Grapa
Scott Cohen as Luca Falcone
Michael Zegen as Alberto Falcone: Carmine’s son and Sofia’s younger brother
Theo Rossi as Julian Rush: A doctor
Carmen Ejogo as Eve Karlo
François Chau, David H. Holmes, Craig Walker, Jared Abrahamson, and Mark Strong are among the actors cast in undisclosed roles.
Development was underway by September 2021, with LeFranc attached as writer, and Farrell was set to reprise his role later that year. After The Batman was released, HBO Max ordered the series in March 2022. That film’s director, Matt Reeves, supervised the writing and was involved in hiring the creative team.
Craig Zobel joined to direct the first three episodes in October, with Helen Shaver also directing. Filming began in March 2023 in New York but was halted in June by the 2023 Hollywood labour disputes. Production resumed in late November and concluded in February 2024. The series moved from HBO Max’s successor Max to HBO in July 2024.
The Penguin is scheduled to premiere in the United States on HBO on September 19, 2024, and is set to consist of eight episodes.
