With James Gunn’s cinematic DC universe now seemingly almost at odds with Matt Reeves‘ Bat-verse, it feels like the spin-offs surrounding The Batman and its lore are getting drastically pruned, TVA style (if we might mix comic universe metaphors). Making it through, though, is HBO’s eight-episode The Penguin, featuring Colin Farrell in his most transformative role to date as Oswald “Oz” Cobb (not Cobblepot!).
Appearing at the Comic-Con panel were Colin Farrell (remotely, from Macao!), Cristin Milioti (Sofia Falcone), Rhenzy Feliz (Victor Aguilar), Matt Reeves (EP), Lauren LeFranc (showrunner/EP), Mike Morino (prosthetics) and Dylan Clark (EP), Josh Horowitz moderated.
Reeves, while writing the script, felt it was getting so long that maybe he could put some of the backstory into a TV show, as part of what he’s calling “The Batman Epic Crime Saga.” Farrell said he thought Reeves should play the Penguin, rather than him. Reeves, initially discussing the character, describes his Penguin as a red herring in the movie — you think he’s an arch-villain, but he’s the informant. What happens next? What’s the next step in his rise to power?
LeFranc saw the first dailies of Farrell as the Penguin, and it inspired her to “look at that character under a microscope.” Farrell said he had grown up watching Burgess Meredith, and didn’t know what he could bring to it, but he loved the lore of Gotham, so he agreed to sign on. A few weeks away from shooting, he hadn’t seen what he was going to look like. When he saw the first bust, he said he instantly had a sense of the character’s history of violence and pain. The tests in makeup, he said, was on of the best days in his life as an actor, in a studio for eight hours.
Later, when he was doing The Banshees of Inisherin, LeFranc pitched him her idea for the show — for 20 minutes, she pitched him a saga of a broken background, and violence, and power, laying it all out. “I was just baffled,” he said, but “I was chomping at the bit to get back to it…He’s just a tasty character — he’s a disaster!”
Trailer time! It begins Sept 19th at 9 p.m.
LeFranc says Oswald’s greatest fear is that love is transactional, and that informs the way he behaves. It’s important that you warm to him in the beginning, with Farrell’s charm. Clark praises the opportunity for A-list world-building that HBO provides — you get your pick of actors and showrunners. Farrell had been disappointed not to have more movie scenes, so they knew he’d be game for more. The catastrophic way the movie ends is a great opportunity to begin a new chapter.
“Gotham is not a great place right now! It’s ripe for unbelievably good drama,” said Clark.
Milioti mostly stuck to the script for her inspiration, as Sofia is quite different in the show than she is in comics lore. As a kid, she used to fantasize about being the Riddler’s daughter, plotting to take over his criminal empire.
Farrell admitted that if he weren’t in the show, he might have been among the folks criticizing his own casting for not being overweight. But he was already cast, and he feels prosthetics are a dying art — the character had not been designed when he was cast, and he even proposed a thin Penguin. He avoided watching Robin Lord Taylor on Gotham for fear he’d steal things. Apologized if he took the role from a big person. Says he’s really grateful for the lack of ownership of the character, crediting much of it to the makeup team and creative team. He loved disappearing into the practical makeup. His hands were the only visible body parts that were real.
Marino is often hired to create injury effects, and said it’s rare that he gets to create a character. His inspiration was from “a lot of real interesting characters” he used to see walking around New York City, types you never see on film. He thinks Colin has a great face for makeup, and his charisma comes through all the ugly makeup. Farrell had to don the makeup “maybe 80 times.”
Reeves noted that Harvey Weinstein was one of the inspirations. Said that Farrell is “F**ing amazing.”
Feliz described his new character Victor, a 17 year-old kid whose life is forever changed when he meets Oz. It’s a whole new world for him. Working with Farrell in make up could get scary, because he was larger than life, but it’s in-character for him to walk on eggshells in the beginning. Farrell says they’re like a “Stranger Things, Upside Down, Batman and Robin.”
Milioti described Sofia and Oz’s relationship as volatile, and having a long history — “a real power struggle.” Flashbacks will show their prior dynamic. “Something happened that means that there’s this kind of instant tension” when she arrives, said Farrell. They are on opposite sides of “a very real argument.”
We will see Gotham in the daytime — the story picks up a week after the flood. It will lead into the second film, and per Reeves, “the ending is quite remarkable.”
Farrell signed off to end the panel.
