Is "March of the Penguin" available as a series title?
Deadline has word that HBO Max is developing a second TV series spinning out from Matt Reeves' upcoming film The Batman, this one centering around classic Batman enemy The Penguin, played in the film by Colin Farrell.
According to the article, the series will be a "'Scarface-like' series about the rise of the Penguin character" and Farrell is expected to star in the TV series. Lauren LeFranc (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) is reportedly set to be the showrunner.
The series joins a number of DC Comics-based TV series in development at HBO Max, including The Batman spinoff centered around the Gotham City Police Department previously announced in July 2020, along with shows based on DC Comics characters John Constantine and Madame Xanadu.
Farrell, 45, is an Irish actor best known as the supervillain Bullseye in the 2003 movie Daredevil, and as Percival Graves/Gellert Grindelwald in the Harry Potter prequel film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. His other films include Minority Report, Phone Booth, The Recruit, S.W.A.T. (2003), Alexander, Miami Vice (2006), In Bruges, Fright Night (2011), Total Recall (2012), Dumbo (2019), and Artemis Fowl. His television appearances include episodes of True Detective, Scrubs, and Saturday Night Live.
Created in 1941 by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, The Penguin first appeared in Detective Comics (vol.1) #58 as Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot, who was bullied as a child for his short stature, weight, way of walking, and beak-like nose. Several stories relate that he was forced, as a child, to always carry an umbrella by his overprotective mother due to his father dying of bronchial pneumonia from refusing to take one while going out in the rain. His parents owned a bird shop, where Cobblepot spent most of his time with the birds, seeing them as his only friends, and lavishing them with attention. His love of birds would eventually lead him to study ornithology in college – only to find out that he knew more about birds than most of his professors did. In some versions, Cobblepot turned to crime after his mother died and the bird shop, along with all of her birds, is repossessed to pay her debts. In others, he was an outcast in his high-society family and their rejection drove him to become a criminal.
He first appeared in Gotham City as a skilled thief, sneaking a pair of priceless paintings (valued at $250,000 in 1941 dollars) out of an art museum by hiding the rolled-up canvases in the handle of his umbrella. The Penguin later used the stolen paintings as proof of his underworld acumen to a local mob boss, who allowed him to join his crime family. With the Penguin's planning, the mob pulled off a string of ingenious heists. The Penguin and the mobster eventually fell out, leading Cobblepot to kill him with his umbrella gun. The Penguin became the leader of the mob and attempted to neutralize Batman by framing him for the theft of a statue, which Penguin himself had stolen. As part of the plot, Penguin actually already owned the statue and was framing Batman and Robin to commit insurance fraud. The Penguin's plans were eventually prevented, but the criminal escaped.
The Penguin recently became a mobster and owner of the Iceberg Lounge nightclub who engages in more quiet criminal activity, tolerated by Batman as a source of criminal underworld information. Whenever he is apprehended for a crime, he is sent to an ordinary prison instead of Arkham Asylum, although some versions of the character (particularly the less sane interpretations) are sent to Arkham.
Farrell is the fourth actor to portray the Penguin in live-action, after Burgess Meredith in Batman television series, Danny DeVito in the film Batman Returns, and Robin Lord Taylor on the TV series Gotham. The character has also appeared in various animated projects, including The Adventures of Batman (voiced by Ted Knight), The New Adventures of Batman (voiced by Lennie Weinrib), Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series (voiced by Paul Williams), Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (voiced by David Ogden Stiers), The Batman (voiced by Tom Kenny), Batman: The Brave and the Bold (voiced by Stephen Root), Justice League Action (voiced by Dana Snyder), and Harley Quinn (voiced by Wayne Knight).
The Batman is currently expected to arrive in theaters on March 4, 2022.
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