The Batman: Colin Farrell's Penguin to Have Prosthetics

In the upcoming The Batman, Colin Farrell will reportedly sport facial prosthetics for his role of Penguin. Back in 1992's Batman Returns, Danny DeVito sported his fair share of prosthetics to convey the disturbing physique of the villain, famously making his nose resemble a beak and his hands being fused together to appear as flippers. Director Matt Reeves has teased that his film will be much more rooted in reality than previous versions of the characters, with the new Penguin likely deviating from DeVito's drastic disfigurement, though it would seem as though star Colin Farrell's appearance in The Batman will at least be somewhat altered for the film.

During a recent appearance of the YouTube series Stars in the House, star of the Mrs. Doubtfire musical Rob McClure recalled going in to have prosthetics made for his character and witnessed that the company had constructed Farrell's prosthetics for the film, though he didn't detail how extreme those prosthetics were.

Batman fans have also recently seen a more grounded take on Penguin in the TV series Gotham, where he was played by Robin Taylor, and, keeping in line with the tone of the show, was portrayed without the same extreme physical characteristics of DeVito's look in Batman Returns.

When Tim Burton delivered audiences Batman in 1989, he delivered a much more stylized superhero film than what had previously been seen on the big screen, which echoed the exaggerated nature of the source material. Burton continued that stylization with Batman Returns, though many DC Comics films in recent years have strayed away from that approached to deliver more grounded interpretations of that universe. Reeves, however, regards Burton's accomplishments quite highly.

"I love Batman Returns. Michelle Pfeiffer was incredible," Reeves revealed recently to Nerdist. "I love it, I love it so much. It's so incredible and she's so incredible in it. I just think it's such a beautiful movie. I love the Penguin stuff when he's going down the sewers as the baby. It's just like, wow. This is the beautiful thing about Tim Burton at his best in that way that he's got that connection into the fantastical that feels very, very personal."

In addition to Penguin, the upcoming film is also set to include Catwoman, as played by Zoë Kravitz.

The Batman is currently set to hit theaters on October 1, 2021.

Do these details have you excited about the new film? Let us know in the comments below!