For some time, we’ve been excited to see what Matt Reeves has brewing with The Batman, a noir take on the Dark Knight that will see Robert Pattinson playing the beloved hero alongside a hefty lineup of popular characters fans know from Gotham City. Among the rogues’ gallery being reintroduced for the film is Zoë Kravitz’s Catwoman, Paul Dano’s Riddler, John Turturro’s Carmine Falcone and Colin Farrell’s Penguin. As far as Oswald Cobblepot’s role goes, hardcore fans may be disappointed to hear some recent comments by Farrell.
Since The Batman trailer was released, fans of the franchise have been especially excited to see what the Dumbo actor does with the menacing villain. However, when Colin Farrell spoke with Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, he teased a smaller role for The Penguin than no doubt many would have liked to see. As he said:
I’m only in for five or six scenes so I can’t wait to see the film because it won’t be ruined by my presence. I’ll get a little uncomfortable for the nine minutes I have, but the rest of it, I cannot wait to see how [director Matt Reeves] brought this world to life.
Colin Farrell has yet to watch The Batman like the rest of us, but according to his recent words, there won’t be much of his Penguin to see. In the trailer that debuted last summer, there wasn’t much of Farrell’s villain either. In fact, because of the character’s prosthetic transformation, many people didn’t even realize he was featured in the trailer until a few viewings. Take a look:
See him? Colin Farrell could briefly be seen in this short and completely unrecognizable reveal of him grimacing in the rain:
Simply evidenced by The Batman's large cast, we might imagine that a few characters might be more dominant than others. While Colin Farrell could very well be humbling his actual runtime, based on his comments, it seems like Penguin may be a secondary villain in the movie. The Penguin is a fan favorite for Batman lovers, with the character famously being adapted by Tim Burton through Danny DeVito in 1992’s Batman Returns.
From the two minutes of footage we’ve witnessed thus far, I’d guess The Batman will focus mainly on Paul Dano’s The Riddler. However, it’s also very much possible that the film will be a villain team-up movie that will have Robert Pattinson’s Batman using his detective skills to solve corruption throughout Gotham that leans on multiple forces.
It would actually make sense for Matt Reeves to try and set his film apart by giving Paul Dano’s villain more of the spotlight than The Penguin considering his vision for the movie will deliver a Riddler much different than Jim Carrey’s flamboyant lime green Riddler from Batman Forever. We’ll have to wait and see for ourselves when The Batman hits theaters on March 4, 2022.
