Although it was officially announced earlier this year that a sequel to The Batman is on the way, our next trip to Matt Reeves’ Gotham City wouldn’t be through the upcoming DC movie, but a series exclusive to HBO Max subscribers. The Penguin, which sees Colin Farrell reprising Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot, is gearing up to begin production, and it’s been revealed that the show has cast its version of Sofia Falcone. So should we expect sibling rivalry between her and Zoë Kravitz’s Selina Kyle, a.k.a. Catwoman, down the line in The Batman saga?
Cristin Milioti has been cast as the daughter of John Tuturro’s Carmine Falcone for The Penguin, with Deadline sharing that she’ll be battling Colin Farrell’s title character for control of Gotham City. Milioti is the first new actor to be announced for the DC TV show, while behind the scenes, writer and showrunner Lauren LeFranc is executive producing alongside Farrell, Matt Reeves and Dylan Clark, and Craig Zobel is directing the first two episodes. This will be the second time Sofia has been adapted into live-action, the first time being Crystal Reed’s portrayal in Gotham Season 4.
In the TV realm, Cristin Milioti is arguably best known for playing Tracy McConnell in How I Met Your Mother, a.k.a. the title mother who debuted at the end of Season 8 and we got to know during the show’s final season. Milioti also led the short-lived TV shows A to Z and Made for Love, starred in the Black Mirror episode “USS Callister” and can currently be seen opposite William Jackson Harper in The Resort, which can be streamed with a Peacock subscription. Film-wise, Milioti’s notable credits include The Wolf of Wall Street and Palm Springs.
Sofia Falcone was a major player in the Batman: The Long Halloween and Batman: Dark Victory comic book arcs, with the former seeing her returning to Gotham City after members of the Falcone crime family started being picked off by serial killer known as Holiday. Carmine Falcone was killed by Paul Dano’s Edward Nashton, a.k.a. The Riddler, in The Batman, so Cristin Milioti’s Sofia is now free to go to war with Oswald Cobblepot in The Penguin, with the victor becoming Gotham City’s new top crime boss. The Batman also took a cue from The Long Halloween by making Selina Kyle biological daughter, making her Selina Kyle’s half-sister. While Zoë Kravitz isn’t expected to appear in The Penguin, since there are various other The Batman-related projects on the horizon, perhaps there will be an opportunity for Selina and Sofia to clash at some point. After all, just like in the comics, just because they share blood doesn’t mean they’ll get along in any way.
It will be a while until The Penguin premieres on HBO Max, but you can stream The Batman on that platform now to remind yourself of how it positioned Oswald Cobblepot for this next chapter of his life. There’s also an Arkham tie-in series in development, and villains like Scarecrow, Clayface and Professor Pyg could potentially get their own spinoffs.
