The Batman: Colin Farrell “Fought Valiantly” for Penguin to Smoke Cigar

There’s a couple of things that DC fans think of when they ponder The Penguin. His trademark nose, his umbrellas, his walk and style of speaking, his monocle, and often times his smoking habit (often in a long cigarette holder). For the upcoming The Batman, actor Colin Farrell takes on the role and though the version we see in the upcoming film is only on his way to becoming The Penguin that we know, we probably shouldn’t expect to see him smoking…ever. Speaking in a new interview, Farrell shot down the potential for his Oswald Cobblepot to be seen smoking, noting the studio squashed it.

“I don’t think the cigarette in the holder (will happen),” Farrell told Jakes Takes while John Turturrolaughed.  “Big studios make big decisions around such things as the presence of cigarettes in films. I fought valiantly for a cigar. At one stage I said, ‘I can have it unlit! Just let me have it unlit.’ They were like, ‘No.’ [As if] a bunch of 12-year-olds are going to start smoking Cuban cigars because of it. I have no idea where it goes but, pardon the pun, it’s the tip of the iceberg.”

Farrell added, “He hasn’t embodied the energy of The Penguin that we recognize from the source comics and from previous films. So you know I’ll see if it goes again, I’d love to explore it because he’s just an underboss, he’s not a boss, he’s just a a soldier of Falcone at this stage but he has great ambition and dreams of doing big, big things.”

The actor is set to reprise his role in an HBO Max TV series that further explores his character in this new reinvention of Gotham. Speaking with ComicBook.com, Farrell shared his excitement for the potential to return

“It’s just that it’s kind of an amazing character to explore, his kind of awkwardness, and his strength, and his villainy, yes, his propensity for violence,” Farrell said. “But there’s also a heartbroken man inside there you know, which just makes it really tasty. I would love to do it. I won’t believe it until I’m in the suit, and in Mike Marino’s makeup, and I hear action, then I’ll believe and see.” 

The Batman will soar into theaters on March 4th.