Posted in: HBO, TV | Tagged: The Penguin

The Penguin Showrunner on Pattinson's Batman for Season 1; S02 Chances

The Penguin showrunner Lauren LeFranc on considering Robert Pattinson's Batman for Season 1 and where things stand with a second season.

Any time you develop a Batman series without the actual Batman, it gets pretty tricky, and it involves some serious suspension of disbelief, but The Penguin showrunner Lauren LeFranc managed to not only pull it off, but it became acclaimed by fans and critics alike, garnering several Emmy nominations for the Colin Farrell-starred HBO series spinoff. As Farrell's Oz Cobb was already introduced in the 2022 Matt Reeves Warner Bros/DC Film, it was up to LeFranc to continue that story, building up Oz's rise to the top of the Gotham underworld since we find it in a power vacuum with Carmine Falcone's (played by John Turturro in the film, and by Mark Strong in the series) death that sets things in motion. LeFranc spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about whether The Batman star Robert Pattinson was ever in serious consideration to reprise his role for the HBO series and what it might take.

The Penguin Showrunner on Robert Pattinson's Batman Appearing

LeFranc admitted while taking in the praise of the series, the status of The Penguin season two factors on a few things. First, if and when The Batman II is released as of this writing, it's been delayed to 2027. Second, an official greenlight from DC Studios' James Gunn and Peter Safran, which, of course, is contingent on where the sequel stands creatively for Oz, since Farrell is just as involved in the film as he was in the original. "I don't know (about season two's status)," LeFranc said. "There's no current status update. I think Matt just turned in his script (for 'The Batman Part II'), so I'm excited to read that soon and see what comes of that — if there is anything there that merits a second season [of The Penguin] or not. I think we've said this before, but I truly mean it: We have to feel confident we can top ourselves, and that's something that's really important to Colin Farrell and me, especially; otherwise, we don't want to do something again if it's not going to be excellent. We were always meant to be a limited series. So, pivoting to a second season is just different — it's not something we ever really talked about."

Not only does LeFranc have to wait on Farrell being available, but it's probably going to be a bit taxing on the actor's body to be in costume for a prolonged time for the rigors of film AND TV series. When asked if her series feels like a lesser project since it's on TV, " I know I technically am the bridge, but I don't — that's not how I view it or how I feel or think of it in terms of our show, really at all. For me, it's like I'm in the same Gotham City universe that Matt established in the film. I'm showing you different sides of it, I'm showing you different characters, and looking at Gotham as a city also through a different lens. Our show is very cinematic, and it's a different form of storytelling," LeFranc said.

"Television is long-form storytelling, so that affords us more time. We made eight big episodes, and we got to spend a lot more time with our characters and really dig into who they are and what they're afraid of. We get to unravel them slowly, and we allow for different reveals and moments where you get to deepen your understanding of these characters, and that's really hard to do in a couple hours in a film. But it's extraordinary what Matt did in the first film, and I'm sure the second film will be that as well. They're just different mediums, so that's how I look at it. But I don't feel 'less than' being a TV show."

The Penguin was able to establish two major antagonists for Oz to fight off on his way to the top. As the driver-turned-made man for the Falcones, he had to battle Carmine's daughter, Sophia (Cristin Milioti), who sought to take over her father's empire. In the middle of their war, she aligned herself with the rival Maroni's, led by Sal (Clancy Brown), to take Oz out. You'd think the rampant gang violence and body count would have caught Pattinson Batman's attention, right?

"Matt and I talked about it a lot. It just didn't feel necessary. It felt like we'd be wrenching him in just to say we had The Batman in our show, when in reality, I feel like my goal at least was always to create rich enough, compelling characters that you weren't desperate to see him, which I know is a tall order because so many people love Batman, and Rob Pattinson is so good as Batman," LeFranc said. "But, yes, we were doing something a little different. We're through the lens of Oz. We're on the streets. There's a gang war happening. We always would say, 'Batman's up high looking down on Gotham, and Oz is in the muck, wanting to get up there and to achieve a level of power.' So, yes, we talked about it, but honestly, we just didn't want to interfere with the story that we had."

LeFranc doubled down when asked if Pattison would finally debut on Farrell's show after missing out on its debut season, "There's not even a season two right now. So I can't say anything about that." The showrunner at least teased one character who could make a return from the Reeves film for season two could be Zoë Kravitz's Selena Kyle, aka Catwoman, who reaches out to her half-sister at Arkham Asylum via letter.

"From my perspective, it's about Sofia's emotional arc as a character, that the whole season is about the fact that her family has betrayed her. She's trying to reach out. She's trying to figure herself out in this family, and she ultimately realizes she's very alone. And, obviously, she then dramatically murders most of them, but she has this tension and this pain mixed up in her. And she goes to see Gia, her little cousin, in this children's home that is very reminiscent of Arkham Asylum in a lot of ways. And she leaves her there because that's what Sofia would do. So you understand that her as a character, she has a lot of complex feelings regarding family, and any sort of maternal or not-maternal feelings she has. So, by the end — when Oz quote-unquote wins and he sentences her to a deeper form of hell than death by bringing her back to Arkham — she's all alone now, and she's lost, and it's heartbreaking, and it felt really important to me to give her a semblance of hope."

For more on LeFranc breaking down her Batman show without the Batman formula, and if there was an alternative ending that didn't see Oz betraying Rhenzy Feliz's Vic, you can check out the entire interview.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

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