Colin Farrell spends most of The Penguin behind a face that isn’t his, and the performance still lands as the most alive thing on HBO this fall. Lauren LeFranc developed the eight-episode miniseries as a spin-off from Matt Reeves’ 2022 film The Batman, and it follows Oz Cobb’s climb through Gotham’s criminal underworld after the seawall collapses and Carmine Falcone dies. The show ran from September 19 to November 10, 2024.
Trailer, via HBO Max.
Oz Cobb and the Power Vacuum
The premise is simple and sturdy: with the city in peril, Oz wants to fill the vacuum Falcone left behind and finally give his mother Francis the life he promised her. Standing in his way are his enemies and his own reputation as “the Penguin.” Farrell plays that humiliation as fuel. The character is a man who has been laughed at for years, and the series never lets you forget it.
Cristin Milioti’s Sofia Falcone is the counterweight. She was cast as the female lead in October 2022, and she gives Oz a rival who is smarter than he is and just as hungry. Rhenzy Feliz plays Victor Aguilar, the young man who befriends Cobb and becomes his protégé — a relationship the show treats as its emotional spine.
Clancy Brown and the Maroni Bench
The series pulls deep from the film’s bench. Clancy Brown plays Salvatore Maroni, a role filled by an uncredited extra in The Batman. Deirdre O’Connell is Francis Cobb. Shohreh Aghdashloo is Nadia Maroni, Michael Kelly is Johnny Viti, Carmen Ejogo is Eve Karlo, and Theo Rossi is Dr. Julian Rush.
Mark Strong appears as a younger Carmine Falcone in flashbacks, replacing John Turturro, who played the character in the film. LeFranc said Turturro was unable to reprise the role. That recasting could have sunk a lesser show. Here it reads as a clean handoff.
The Labor Dispute That Stopped Filming
Production started in March 2023 in New York and halted that June when the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes shut down sets. It resumed in late November and wrapped in February 2024. The series then moved from Max to HBO in July 2024.
Craig Zobel directed the first three episodes. Helen Shaver and Kevin Bray directed two each. Jennifer Getzinger directed the finale. That split is unusually even for a miniseries, and it shows in the pacing.
Based on the DC Comics character of the same name, it serves as a spin-off from the 2022 film The Batman.
What The Penguin Gets Right
The show’s best decision is refusing to make Oz sympathetic. He is a man who wants his mother to have a nice life, and he is willing to do monstrous things to get it. LeFranc, who also serves as showrunner, keeps the focus on that contradiction rather than on Gotham’s larger mythology.
Eight episodes is the right length. There is no filler arc, no episode that exists to set up a sequel.
Farrell signed on in December 2021 and executive produced the series. He has described working with LeFranc as similarly collaborative to working with Reeves. That trust is visible on screen.
Key facts
– Network: HBO
– Episodes: 8 across 1 season
– First aired: 2024-09-19
– Last aired: 2024-11-10
– Genres: Drama, Crime
– IMDb: 9.0/10
The Penguin is the rare spin-off that justifies its own existence. It takes a supporting character from a blockbuster and gives him a full, ugly, compelling arc without leaning on Batman himself. The score reflects that: 9.0 of 10.
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