It would be a while before fans got to see Robert Pattinson return as Batman on the big screen, but HBO is giving a chance for another character from the franchise to shine—specifically Colin Farrell’s Penguin.
The Penguin is set to premiere next month, and many fans are curious about exactly what to expect from a Gotham show without Batman. The main plot for the series has been kept under wraps, but some new details have emerged for the first episode.
The Penguin: First Episodes Get Titles and Runtimes
Thanks to @Cryptic4KQual, fans have details on the series' first four episodes. The first season is expected to have eight episodes.
For context, the title of the fourth episode, “Cent’Anni” is a traditional Italian toast, which translates to, “May you live for a hundred years.”
Off the bat, fans are pleased to see that the runtimes of each episode run for almost an hour, with the first episode clocking in at a total of 67 minutes.
A recent problem that several franchise-connected series have is short runtimes—just ask any fan of The Acolyte, The Mandalorian, or Ahsoka; shows with erratic runtimes that could last roughly an hour or only 30 minutes.
Shows with longer and more consistent runtimes tend to do better when sustaining an audience. In contrast, there are shows like The Boys, House of the Dragon, and even another Star Wars IP, Andor, which stretches story arcs across three episodes.
Fans should expect a lot of story coverage with The Penguin's hour-long runtimes. After all, the series is more of a mobster drama than an action science-fantasy adventure like Star Wars.
Remakes of Auteur Films in Disguise
Though The Penguin is part of the DC franchise, it does look like it’s following the trend of the more experimental entries that have come before it—specifically Todd Phillips’ Joker.
With Joker being called a remake of Taxi Driver and King of Comedy under the guise of a comic book movie, some think The Penguin will also follow the trend. Only this time, it’s a remake of HBO’s The Sopranos set in Batman’s Gotham City.
Then again, just because it’s a gangster story doesn’t mean that it’s immediately a remake of The Sopranos. Fans just can’t help but compare the protagonist Oz Cobblepot who is an overweight, balding man who is a tough-as-nails killer who works for the mob.
Maybe The Penguin has some more interesting comic book elements to it, but as of now, the Soprano remake is the description that’s sticking.
Other spinoffs to The Batman had also been planned but didn’t receive the greenlight. If The Penguin gets a positive reception though, maybe James Gunn and Peter Safran would consider pushing forward with more of these experimental DC projects. It should help sustain the fanbase until the next Batman movie comes along—which could be sometime around 2026.
Watch out for The Penguin when it premieres on Max on Sept. 19.