Posted in: Movies, TV | Tagged: the batman, The Penguin

The Penguin Showrunner, EP Matt Reeves on Batman Not Appearing

The Penguin Showrunner Lauren LeFranc and EP Matt Reeves explains why the spinoff series doesn't need Robert Pattinson's Batman appearing.

In less than a month, DC Studios, Showrunner Lauren LeFranc, and EPs Matt Reeves and Dylan Clark's Colin Farrell-starring The Penguin will be hitting our screens. While LeFranc, Reeves, and others have made it clear that the series will play an important role in bridging the first film with the upcoming The Batman 2, fans shouldn't be expecting a guest appearance from Robert Pattinson's Dark Knight. Speaking with SFX Magazine, LeFranc and Reeves explained their reasoning.

"I understand why people's desire would be to have Batman or to think that unless Batman's in a show or a film, then it doesn't have the same punch. To me I think it packs a different punch. Matt's [Reeves] films are through the lens of the Batman, so you're high up, looking down on the city. It's a different perspective. With Oz, you're in the city streets; you're in the grit and the muck and the grime. He's looking up, wanting to claw his way to the top. So it's a different experience. I think Gotham is an interesting enough city that it deserves to have more doors unlocked within it, and for us to walk through those and see what we think," LeFranc shared about the decision.

It's a view that Reeves agrees with. "I don't feel like it's missing something fundamental. I feel like it's an extension of what is fundamentally there. We know this is the world of Batman," Reeves added. "You're going down a different alley. So the spectre of Batman is there. The spectre of the Riddler is there. The spectre of everything that happens in the last movie is there. It informs it. And it's exactly where we begin."

The HBO Original series stars Farrell as Oz Cobb (aka "The Penguin"), along with Cristin Milioti (Sofia Falcone), Rhenzy Feliz (Victor Aguilar), Michael Kelly (Johnny Viti), Shohreh Aghdashloo (Nadia Maroni), Deirdre O'Connell (Francis Cobb), Clancy Brown (Salvatore Maroni), James Madio (Milos Grapa), Scott Cohen (Luca Falcone), Michael Zegen (Alberto Falcone), Carmen Ejogo (Eve Karlo), Theo Rossi (Dr. Julian Rush). Actors reportedly cast in unconfirmed roles include Francois Chau, David H. Holmes, Craig Walker, Jared Abrahamson, and Mark Strong.

A big premiere weekend is set for "The Batman" spinoff series – kicking off on Thursday, September 19th, on HBO (at 9 pm ET/PT, and available to stream on Max). From there, the opener will be shown throughout the weekend – including Sunday, September 22nd (9 pm ET/PT)  – with weekly episodes premiering on Sunday nights at 9 pm ET/PT after (beginning with Sunday, September 29th).

The series is executive produced by Matt Reeves, Dylan Clark, Colin Farrell & Lauren LeFranc, who writes and serves as showrunner; Craig Zobel, who directs the first three episodes; and Bill Carraro. Based on characters created for DC by Bob Kane with Bill Finger, the streaming series is produced by Reeves' 6th & Idaho Productions and Dylan Clark Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, where Reeves and 6th & Idaho are under an overall deal. 6th & Idaho's Daniel Pipski also serves as executive producer, and Rafi Crohn is co-executive producer.

"We're in Oz's world," LeFranc shared during an interview with EW ahead of SDCC 2024. "We're living in the underbelly of the city. Oz is a mover and a shaker. He can't always be trusted. He's very smart and very methodical, but he's also extremely impulsive. You can't predict what he's going to do." With the spinoff series set one week after the events of the Robert Pattinson-starring The Batman, the connections between the feature film and streaming series are pretty clear. But LeFranc notes that the series will also serve as a lead-in to the second film (expected in 2026). "We are the bridge between the two films. We're going almost directly into the second film Matt has planned," LeFranc added. Could that mean an appearance from Pattinson's Dark Knight? Really? Did you think they would answer that?

For Reeves, the vision of expanding "The Batman" universe across big and small screens during writing on the film. "As we were writing the movie [The Batman], I was like, 'Hey, you know what? I think there are some cool shows that we could do. It was actually why I wanted to make our deal at Warner Bros." In fact, Reeves notes in the interview that some elements from the original Gotham PD project made their way into The Penguin – and the team isn't done yet. "There's another television exploration we're going to do," Clark revealed. "We're looking at this entire world as it relates to who Batman is — the antagonists around them, all the crime that has to be navigated in the city — and trying to figure out where are the areas that are best to explore."

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