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Batman: Caped Crusader Star Minnie Driver on Playing Female Penguin

Prime Video's Batman: Caped Crusader star Minnie Driver discusses portraying a female take on The Penguin, aka Oswalda Cobblepot.

As fans of The Dark Knight get ready to check out EPs Bruce Timm, J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves, Ed Brubaker, and Sam Register's Batman: Caped Crusader next week, the Prime Video animated series made its way to  San Diego Comic-Con 2024 (SDCC 2024) for a special panel presentation. Kicking off with a video welcome from Timm, the first episode was screened during a presentation that included Reeves and the series' voice cast, including Minnie Driver (The Penguin), Hamish Linklater (Batman), and Jamie Chung (Harley Quinn). By the end of the screening, viewers had learned that Driver is voicing a female take on The Penguin – known as Oswalda Cobblepot in the series.

"If we're lucky enough to be invited onto the stage to inhabit these characters that already exist in the ether, we just sort of rise up to meet them. And this was such a beautiful retelling of that villain. It was joyful. And, I mean, she's dreadful," Driver shared while noting that some Batman fans might take issue with the show's interpretation of the character. In addition, Driver's Penguin will also get a chance to sing during the series. "I didn't know it when I went into the studio. It's a big jazz standard," Driver shared with EW. "The sound engineer was a musician. I was freaking out, and he asked for 20 minutes. He got his guitar out, and we sat there and worked it out. He was the most brilliant accompanist. It was him who really gave me the confidence because I had to belt it. I grew up singing in jazz clubs, and I didn't know it." Set to hit screens on August 1, here's the latest preview for Prime Video's Batman: Caped Crusader – followed by some insights from Timm on what viewers can expect from the streaming series:

Speaking with Empire, Timm offered some insights into where Bruce Wayne is in his crimefighting timeline when we're introduced to him. In addition, he discusses Batman having a "weird" and "spooky" vibe and the different roles that Alfred will play in Batman's nocturnal activities.

Viewers Should Expect "Batman: Week Two": "Batman is so early in his career that in the first episode, he's still an urban myth. It's not 'Year One [a nod to Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli's origin comic series].' It's more like 'Week Two.'"

Batman Isn't Looking to Make Anyone Feel Comfortable: "I wanted to make him kind of weird and spooky. If you're stuck in a room with Batman, whether you're Commissioner Gordon or Barbara Gordon or Renee Montoya, you don't feel comfortable. You're kind of like, 'What is this guy? What's this all about?'"

Alfred Will Be More Than Batman's "Surrogate Father" In This Series: "He [Bruce Wayne/Batman] weaponises Alfred. He's not Batman's surrogate father anymore. He's a guy that's going to enable him to fight crime. That's how focused [Bruce] is. It's a weird take on him. But it's something I don't think we've seen before."

Prime Video's Batman: Caped Crusader is set in Gotham City, about as corrupt of a city as you'll find – where criminals run rampant and law-abiding citizens live in a constant state of fear. That's where wealthy socialite Bruce Wayne comes in – taking his tragic childhood pain and using it to become something both more and less than human – The Batman. Though his one-man crusade for justice will earn him some unexpected allies within the GCPD and City Hall, it isn't long before his heroic actions are met with some very deadly and unexpected not-so-heroic reactions.

The cast for the animated series includes Hamish Linklater (Midnight Mass) as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Jamie Chung (Lovecraft Country) as Harley Quinn, Christina Ricci (Yellowjackets) as Catwoman/Selina Kyle, and Diedrich Bader (Office Space) as Harvey Dent/Two-Face. In addition, the cast includes Minnie Driver, Eric Morgan Stuart, Michelle C. Bonilla, Krystal Joy Brown, John DiMaggio, McKenna Grace, Jason Watkins, Paul Scheer, Reid Scott, Gary Anthony Williams, Dan Donohue, David Krumholtz, Haley Joel Osment, and Toby Stephens. The animated series is based on characters from DC and is produced by Warner Bros. Animation, Bad Robot Productions, and 6th & Idaho.

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