Natasha Lyonne Wants to Play The Penguin in a Batman Movie

The principal cast of Matt Reeves' The Batman is currently set in place, and it's bringing a mix [...]

By Jenna Anderson

The principal cast of Matt Reeves' The Batman is currently set in place, and it's bringing a mix of inspired and unexpected casting choices into the world of DC Films. The nature of who would play The Penguin in the film was speculated about quite a bit, before Colin Farrell was ultimately announced to have the role last month. Even then, that hasn't stopped some - including beloved actress Natasha Lyonne - from offering to throw their hat in the ring for the role. While giving a speech at the 2019 Gotham Awards, Lyonne reportedly remarked that she wants to play The Penguin in a Batman movie, but on one very specific condition.

"Keep Danny DeVito," Lyonne added, referencing the actor who played the role in 1992's Batman Returns, "because I think we'd play nicely off each other."

Okay, where can we sign up to make this a reality? While Farrell's casting certainly seems to indicate that the film is going for a decidedly different take on The Penguin, there's no denying that seeing Lyonne play the role - or DeVito putting on the prosthetics once again - would be a genuine delight.

"Collin is a great actor. I'm excited to see what he'll do in the part," DeVito told ComicBook.com last month. "It's a really great, many-layered character so I'm very, very excited to see that because I was a big fan of the comic books and I loved working with Tim, Tim Burton and I had a hell of a shorthand with that one and I love doing Oswalt so I'm very much looking forward to my friend Collin and see what he has to do."

In the meantime, Lyonne has a pretty epic project already on the docket with the second season of her critically-acclaimed and genre-bending Netflix series Russian Doll.

"God, I wish I could tease about that one, but I know absolutely nothing. Full honesty," Charlie Barnett, who co-stars in the series with Lyonne, told ComicBook.com last month. "You know, Natasha knows that I'm a gullible sap, which for the world to know... Be cool with that, okay? But I'm pretty damn gullible, and she'll tell me a whole bunch of different ideas that I've been running in my mind, but I don't think any of them are true. So I'm not going to run you down that line."

"I do know that they've gotten back into the writing room, so they must be planning up something," Barnett continued. "And I ain't going to bother her. She's got enough work on her plate, that you don't need some actor being like, 'What's happening? What's going on?' And I want her to develop it in peace and serenity and build an amazing second go around."

Would you want to see Natasha Lyonne's take on The Penguin? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

0comments
Start the Conversation

of