I just recently watched the first episode of The Penguin, also known as Oswald (Oz) Cobb, starring Colin Farrell. He is reprising his villainous role from The Batman (2022).
So far, so good!
The show picks off from the end of the aforementioned Batman movie. In the wake of the death of crime boss Carmine Falcone and Gotham being left nearly underwater by the Riddler, there’s a huge void to fill in the criminal underworld.
And this is where the Penguin hobbles in…
For someone who hobbles, the Penguin is surprisingly formidable, buoyed by the emotional support of his harmless-looking, but NOT harmless-acting, mother as well as an unlikely ally/sidekick (Victor Aguilar) that he picks up along the way.
Spoiler-Free
In keeping this brief post mostly spoiler free, I will simply say the show is about an eight out of ten to me, and is a refreshing comic book adaptation.
It’s refreshing, in that it’s gritty, grounded and does not seek (at least not yet) focused on any world-building or multiversal-type cameos. It feels present and is squarely focused on its main characters.
And I love it for that. And I think you will too.
