- Will make its debut in mid-September
- Set to arrive on HBO and Max (US), and Sky and Now TV (UK)
- No Australian streaming platform confirmed yet
- Numerous trailers released
- Story synopsis unveiled
- Colin Farrell reprises his role as Oz Cobb from The Batman
- Other cast members and roles confirmed in June
- Events will impact what happens in The Batman Part 2
Who's ready to watch The Penguin in September? We certainly are – and, with The Batman spin-off show's release date now confirmed, we know when we'll be tuning in to stream it on Max and HBO in the US, and Sky/Now TV in the UK (NB: we don't know where you'll be able to watch it in Australia yet).
Before it launches in less than two months, and in light of its recent Comic-Con 2024 panel, we suspect you'll want more details about the Colin Farrell-starring show. In this guide, you'll find more details on The Penguin, including its worldwide launch date, confirmed cast, story brief, various trailers, and what impact it'll have on the rest of Matt Reeves' Batman universe, which is now known as The Batman Epic Crime Saga.
Major spoilers follow for 2022's The Batman movie. Potential spoilers for The Penguin are also on the way, so proceed at your own risk.
The Penguin release date
Tear down the empire from the inside out. Academy Award nominee Colin Farrell is #ThePenguin in the new @HBO Original Limited Series, premiering September 19 @StreamOnMax.pic.twitter.com/QhbQ0cSvfWJuly 28, 2024
The Penguin will be released on Thursday, September 19. That announcement was made during a presentation at San Diego Comic-Con – one of nine huge Comic-Con 2024 announcements that filled us with excitement. Before that, we only knew that the crime series would premiere in September; The Penguin's release month being confirmed in mid-June.
Per Variety, The Penguin won't just air on Max stateside anymore, too. Indeed, it's been rebranded to an HBO Original so, like House of the Dragon, it'll be available to stream on HBO as well as Max. In the UK, it'll still be viewable on Sky and Now TV. We aren't sure where Australian audiences will be able to watch it yet, though.
The Penguin trailer
The Penguin's third (and likely final) trailer was unveiled at Comic-Con 2024 before being released online for non-attendees. Just like its predecessors – you can watch them below – it showcases more ultraviolent shoot-outs, crime-based melodrama, and neo-noir sensibilities that are becoming a hallmark of The Batman Epic Crime Saga.
Missed the series' first official trailer upon its mid-June release? Check it out below:
And if The Penguin's first teaser, which revealed that Oz Cobb will be on the criminal warpath in The Batman's first TV spin-off, bypassed you in March, it's also viewable via the YouTube embed below:
The Penguin cast: confirmed and rumored
Here's The Penguin's confirmed cast so far:
- Colin Farrell as Oz Cobb/The Penguin
- Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone
- Rhenzy Feliz as Victor Aguilar
- Michael Kelly as Johnny Viti
- Shohreh Aghdashloo as Nadia Maroni
- Deirdre O’Connell as Francis Cobb
- Clancy Brown as Salvatore Maroni
- James Madio as Milos Grapa
- Scott Cohen as Luca Falcone
- Michael Zegen as Alberto Falcone
- Carmen Ejogo as Eve Karlo
- Theo Rossi as Doctor Julian Rush
Milioti, who some viewers might recognize as the titular mom from How I Met Your Mother, will be the series' primary antagonist – well, if you can call Farrell's Cobb the "hero" of this piece. She's the daughter of the recently deceased Carmine, so she'll be battling Cobb for control of Gotham's criminal underworld. Judging by the show's second trailer, she'll have to get her hands dirty in order to earn the respect of her fellow criminals within, and outside of, the Falcone family.
And she'll do just that, too – the third trailer confirming she's more than happy to let her violent side out (during a stint in Arkham Asylum, no less) and dole out punishment when it's called for. Hey, she isn't nicknamed 'The Hangman' for nothing.
Zegen (Boardwalk Empire, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel) will play Sofia's brother, Alberto, while Kelly (Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan) is set to portray Viti, the Falcone family's underboss – essentially, Carmine's second-in-command – who's seen telling Cobb to remember where his allegiances lie (i.e. with the Falcone family) in the second trailer. Expect this duo, plus Cohen's Luca Falcone, to help Sofia in her battle with Oz.
The titular character won't engage in this conflict alone, however. O'Connell (Outer Range) will play Francis Cobb, aka Oz's mother, who'll continue to fuel his ambition to become Gotham's new crime kingpin with her constant reminders that Oz promised to give her a better life. Feliz (Runaways) will play a character named Victor, who looks to be Oz's main lackey who'll help him carry out whatever nefarious plan he's cooked up.
It's also possible that Brown (Invincible, Gen V), who'll play Maroni, will team up with Cobb to bring down the Falcone family. Per Deadline, Maroni is a mob boss who was involved in a historic drug bust, in which Carmine Falcone was the Gotham City Police Department's informant. Maroni, then, will surely still have an ax to grind with Sofia Falcone and her allies, meaning he could unite with Cobb to bring the former's empire to its knees. Well, providing they get along, which the second trailer suggests they might not fully do. Aghdashloo's Nadia could help as well if her husband allies himself with Oz.
As for actors who might be involved but haven't been confirmed yet, it seems Mark Strong (Shazam!, 1917) will appear, too. Responding to a fan question on Instagram, Strong's personal trainer Giacomo Farci said he'd trained Strong for a role in the show. We await more details about his potential involvement from HBO.
The Penguin story speculation
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) hasn't released a story brief yet. In press releases accompanying each trailer, the entertainment giant simply teased that "the eight-episode DC Studios drama series continues The Batman Epic Crime Saga that filmmaker Matt Reeves began with... and centers on the character played by Farrell in the film."
There are some details – some minor, some major – that we know about, though. Speaking to TechRadar ahead of The Batman's release, Farrell revealed the Max show's runtime; Farrell suggesting it'll be "six to eight hours" of story spread across eight episodes.
Elaborating on what we can expect from this new Batman production, Farrell also told is: "[I'm excited about] getting more into the character and just, as you say, maybe getting more into his origin and the Oz that we meet in the film.
"I only have six or seven scenes in the movie, so Oz is still kind of an unknown quantity to me as well. So, I've become very excited by the prospect of getting to learn what the parameters are, if indeed there are any for the character. I mean, he's got a lovely kind of sense of humor. He's kind of funny, but he's kind of not, but he thinks he is. He's definitely dangerous and has a kind of a certain psychopath to him. But he's also a little bit broken inside, as many of us are, so it'll be fun to explore all those aspects."
Expanding on some non-spoiler-based elements, Farrell told MovieZine: "It’s dark – that’s what I can tell you about it. It’s really dark and really heavy... it’s incredibly violent. It’s one man’s rise to what he’s always dreamed of inhabiting, which is a certain power or social status."
As far as spoilers go before The Penguin launches, you'll want to read our The Batman ending explained article for more details. Based on the series' three trailers, and as we teased in our cast section, there'll be a power vacuum in Gotham's criminal underworld following Carmine Falcone's death, so we can expect multiple factions to make plays for their share of the cash, drugs, and guns that are run through the city. There may also be the formation of some uneasy alliances if individuals like Oz need some financial or gun-toting backing in their bids to become Gotham's new kingpin.
It sounds like everyone will be trying to take advantage of the wider chaos that engulfed Gotham in The Batman's finale. There are some clues about what went down in our review of The Batman and the aforementioned ending explainer. But, to give you some extra hints about its story, Farrell told Variety that The Penguin will be set one week after The Batman, with Gotham still underwater following The Riddler's explosive (and successful) plan to flood the city. Judging by what the trailers showed, it seems Oz and Sofia will see each other as kindred spirits who, despite their clear rivalry, are both trying to prove that they mean business to the rest of the city's major crime-based players.
Comparable though their ambitions are, Oz and Sofia will definitely be going head-to-head over the course of the show. We'd be amazed if the casualty list is high and, truthfully, we only expect to see Oz live to fight another day by the time its finale arrives. Why? Well, because of his involvement in The Batman Part 2. Speaking of which...
Will The Penguin tie into The Batman Part 2?
Yes. Per The Wrap, The Batman Epic Crime Saga creator Matt Reeves confirmed Farrell will reprise his role as Oz Cobb in The Batman Part 2. That reveal came days after Entertainment Weekly (EW) reported The Penguin will "bridge the gap" between 2022's The Batman and its 2026 successor.
A sequel to The Batman was announced in April 2022, just one month after the critically acclaimed film – see where it sits in our best Batman movies guide – flew into theaters. Considering The Penguin is part of The Batman Epic Crime Saga, it would be bizarre if the gritty TV series didn't end up affecting the narrative of the forthcoming film, which was delayed out of its original October 2025 release date to a whole year later.
Of course, if Cobb triumphs (and we don't see why he won't) in his self-titled show and becomes Gotham's new crime boss, he'll be someone of even greater interest to Robert Pattinson's Caped Crusader and Jeremy Wright's Commissioner Gordon. After all, Oz is already on their radar after they interrogated them in The Batman to get some key intel on The Riddler. The pair may reluctantly enlist Cobb's help again, then, if the next threat to Gotham's safety becomes too big for them to handle – or, you know, if they need some dirt on the next criminal/supervillain who wants to bring the city and/or Bruce Wayne to their knees.
For more DC-based coverage, find out how to watch the DC movies in order or how to watch the Batman movies in order. Alternatively, learn about every DC Cinematic Universe (DCU) project in development via our DCU Chapter One hub, or get the lowdown on James Gunn's Superman movie, which is slated to arrive in July 2025.
