The Penguin’s Brutal Takedown of Loki as Most-loved Superhero Show is an Alarm Bell For Marvel
- Fans pick The Penguin over Loki.
- The success and popularity of The Penguin is like a wake up call for Marvel Studios
- Marvel addresses the reduced episode count for Daredevil: Born Again
Created by Lauren LeFranc, The Penguin, starring Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz, and more, is one of the most successful shows in recent times. The show is a spin-off from Matt Reeves’ The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson, and is set after the events of the movie.
The series, upon release, received critical and audience acclaim for exceptional writing, direction, tone, production value, and performances of the actors involved. The eight-episode-long series that explored the rise of the power of Oz Cobb in Gotham City’s criminal underworld holds a 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The success and popularity of The Penguin has come off as an alarm bell for Marvel, as it takes up the higher position as the most-loved superhero show.
Colin Farrell’s The Penguin ranks higher than Tom Hiddleston’s Loki
Colin Farrell and Tom Hiddleston are extremely talented and well-liked actors in the industry who have portrayed The Penguin and Loki in DC and Marvel, respectively. Up until the release of The Penguin, Loki has held a high ground with ardent Marvel fans loving the complex character that he is.
According to reports, fans like Loki as a character because he’s funny and very unpredictable. He became one of the most loved superheroes, and the series Loki gave the audience a chance to know his character in depth and made the character much more nuanced and fun to watch. Surely, Tom Hiddleston playing the character for almost 10 years is also an added factor.
During a spotlight panel at Megacon 2024, the actor shared that very early on, the audience gets to see how lost, confused, and vulnerable the character of Loki is. He added that the character’s grievance was always rooted in grief, and his rage was always rooted in vulnerability. Hiddleston added (via Pop Verse)
I had a moment to reveal that at the center of this mask of detachment and coolness and mischief was actually a very lost and broken soul looking for meaning, which I think is something I managed to continue all the way up to the end of Loki Season 2.
But Colin Farrell’s The Penguin seems to have taken over the fans, as the series had been well planned, written, performed, and directed by the incredible team. The series went on to capture Gotham City in all of its’ grit and glamor and as cinematic as it can be.
CBR noted that the show went ahead to add new layers to Oz Cobb’s character, which the audience liked. The success and popularity of The Penguin has not only raised the bar higher for Marvel but also for DC. In the finale episode of the series, after relaying and trusting Victor Aguilar, Oz strangles him, reminding the audience that he is indeed one of the most despicable villains ever to exist. Cristin Milioti’s portrayal of Sofia Falcone has been one of the highlights of the show and she has been lauded for her work adding to the success and popularity of the show.
Despite Tom Hiddleston’s exceptional and convincing performance in the Loki series and maintaining his status of being the most-loved superhero show even after the release of Agatha All Along, Loki falls short when it comes to The Penguin.
Fans online have picked The Penguin over Loki, and it’s a wake-up call for Marvel to think and circle back on the stories they want to share, the characters they want the audience to invest their time in. Some fans believe that they are two different shows with two different tones. However, The Penguin still ranks a little higher.
Marvel addresses Daredevil: Born Again’s reduced episode count
Ardent fans of Marvel are waiting for Daredevil: Born Again to premiere. But now it has been recently reported that season one of the show that was supposed to have 18 episodes will now have just 9 episodes. During the Phase Hero Podcast appearance, Brand Winderbaum explained why they decided to reduce the episodes.
Our first conceit for Daredevil was to try a longer format. Let’s take this character and this world of New York City and build an ensemble. Then we learned a lot of lessons doing it that way.
He further added that because of several reasons, including the shutdowns due to the strike, they were able to reassess the episodes and see what they had, and nine episodes were the best. Winderbaum noted that it felt like a great first-season kind of thing, so they went ahead with it.
Actor Vincent D’Onofrio, who plays Wilson Fisk on the show, shared (via CBR) that they’d continue the darkness of the first series on Netflix, noting that it’s going to be dark and intense. He mentioned that they are excited for the audience to see what they have prepared for them.
The show is going to follow Matt Murdock, played by Charlie Cox, and Wilson Fisk as they try to put their rivalry aside to help the people of NYC, only for their pasts to catch up to them. Daredevil: Born Again, along with other upcoming shows from Marvel Studios, have to be incredibly good to compete with the shows from DC Studios, especially after The Penguin took away the crown of a most-beloved superhero from Loki.
Daredevil: Born Again is scheduled for a March 2025 release.
The Penguin is streaming on HBO, whereas Loki is streaming on Disney+.
