Posted in: HBO, Max, Movies, TV | Tagged: batgirl, The Penguin

Colin Farrell Feared The Penguin Would Meet "Batgirl"-Like Demise

Between the WGA & SGA strikes and what Warner Bros. did to "Batgirl," Colin Farrell wasn't sure The Penguin would make it to our screens.

Now that DC Studios has its hands on Matt Reeves' script for The Batman II, the future becomes a bit clearer in terms of a possible second season of Showrunner Lauren LeFranc's Emmy Awards-nominated Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti-starring series The Penguin. But there was a point during production when Farrell wasn't sure "The Batman" spinoff series would actually make it to the small screen, a subject he addressed shortly after receiving the news of the show's 24 Emmy nominations.

"I remember when we had three months in the can, and it was like, 'We're shutting down tomorrow. That's it. Everyone's going home.' People were fucking scared because they were living week-to-week, check-to-check, and it was a really brutal time. So this is just cherry on the cake, man," Farrell shared with Variety in an Emmys profile article about appreciating the nomination after the fears that the WGA and SGA strikes would eventually lead to the series being shelved – or in the case of Warner Bros. Discovery's recent history, used as a tax write-off.

"In a world where they can make a 'Batgirl' film and then just can it. I don't understand it — the debits and credits and ledgers and, fucking, all that stuff — but they can decide that it's economically advantageous to just shelve a $90 million film that people have put so much effort into it. You better believe it. When we were in the middle of the strike, I remember saying to my sister, 'I don't know if we're gonna go back to this. I don't know if we're gonna finish it.' I did get nervous," Farrell added. "But seeing everyone at the end of the strike and going back to pick up where we left off, it was such a fucking deeply heartfelt reunion. It was unbelievable. It was such a joy to see everyone, and everyone was so relieved and gung-ho and just wanted to finish it. I'm thrilled for the whole crew and the cast. It was such a communal effort."

Checking in with Deadline Hollywood's Crew Call podcast back in May (before Reeves delivered his The Batman II script), LeFranc updated on how things were looking regarding a possible second season. In addition, LeFranc also touched on the topic of other spinoff series stemming from the larger cinematic universe.

While both Farrell and Milioti have previously gone on record saying that they would want to return if the new season had something new to say and would look to maintain the quality of the first season. That's a position that LeFranc has maintained since first being asked about the chances of a Season 2, noting again that "it depends on whether there's a story that we can make richer than what we've already done." With the first season structured as a "fully arced" limited series that told a complete story, LeFranc is still "in the process of exploring what that would be, if there will be more."

As for the possibility of there being additional spinoffs spotlighting other characters from the cinematic universe, LeFranc noted that "we're in early stages" of seeing what that could look like. In terms of Reeves' upcoming sequel film, LeFranc shared that The Batman II is a big factor when it comes to where things could go with The Penguin, but that's not necessarily the case with other spinoff series.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!