It’s Time We Give Colin Farrell the Respect He Deserves After He ‘Derailed’ Batman 2 Plans With His Penguin Performance

At a time when DC Studios lay on the verge of a management rejig, Matt Reeves debuted his version of The Dark Knight with Robert Pattinson as the lead in The Batman. Even as the Twilight star went on to garner praise and acclaim for his serious and broody act, critics also shined a light on the mettle of its supporting cast. Among them, Colin Farrell probably earned the biggest prize, with his role as the Penguin.

Not long after the film’s release, the studio quickly green-lit a spin-off series starring the actor. Aptly named, The Penguin, it lies on the cusp of release. Interestingly, right about this time, reports have surfaced on how Farrell not only secured his own show but also somewhat altered the director’s original plans, although for good reasons.

Colin Farrell is the major reason The Penguin ever happened

The Batman featured Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot, aka The Penguin, as a mid-level gangster working for Carmine Falcone. However, the upcoming series will depict his rise through the ranks of the criminal world and set him as a potential adversary for Robert Pattinson’s hero, in line with the comics. Yet, a show was never on the cards but happened only because of Farrell.

In talks with Collider, Dylan Clark, executive producer for The Penguin, recalled how The Banshees of Inisherin actor’s performance in The Batman blew them away. Additionally, he also shared how the 48-year-old actor stole every scene he was in despite featuring for a limited screen time.

Colin [Farrell] was so amazing in our movie. He was only in six scenes. When we tested the movie, he always rated at the top with Rob [Pattinson]. It was like, ‘God, it’s Colin Farrell and he’s such an amazing actor.

Looking at the potential, Matt Reeves and his team decided to allow the character to take his own time to mature into a hardened villain during the first film’s development. As such, a spin-off series was born and will now land with eight episodes that will have Oz Cob take full advantage of the chaotic aftermath caused by The Riddler and also have Farrell fulfilling his earlier discarded wish to light a cigar on-screen.

Matt Reeves had to part ways with his initial plans for The Batman and its sequel

In the same round of talks, Clark also shared his experience as a producer for The Batman and the layout of Matt Reeves’ initial script was “long” and “busting at the seams”. The director had sought more focus on the Penguin and on continuing his antagonistic rise as a criminal menace during the first half of the upcoming sequel. However, he had to part with his plans and shuffle ideas around.

The filmmaker and his team realized that there was much more depth and storyline to explore, provided they also had an actor as talented as Colin Farrell to helm it. Thus, in early discussions with his team, the plans transformed to accommodate a show between the two films.

Matt had to part with some of the ideas that he wanted to explore in movie two. That rise to power Scarface story that is the beginning of this series was the beginning of movie two.

Continuing to expand on the show’s importance, he further added,

It was the right thing to do, to hand it off to [showrunner] Lauren [LeFranc] to fill out the emotional and psychological complexity journeys that the series is, and for us to figure out what we were gonna do differently in the sequel.

Finally, The Penguin will now take place a week after the events of The Batman and will set up the plot and tension for The Batman Part II, allowing Robert Pattinson to have more room for his story.

The Batman is streaming on HBO max whereas The Penguin will air its first episode on the same platform on September 19.