The Batman Spinoff The Penguin Release Date Delayed

DC’s The Batman spinoff series, The Penguin, has officially been delayed. According to Deadline, the original spring 2024 launch is being delayed by the WGA and actors’ strikes. Decider’s Meghan O’Keefe clarified on social media that that delay pushes the series from the expected spring release to fall 2024 with no specific window offered. The Penguin had never actually been given a specific release date.

The Penguin isn’t the only series that is being delayed due to the ongoing strike. On Friday it was announced that the third season of The White Lotus is now coming in 2025, as has Stephen King’s IT prequel series, Welcome to Derry. There have also been delays of various films as well due to the strikes. The WGA strike concluded in October after 148 days with the writers’ union reaching a new agreement with the studios. SAG-AFTR, the actors’ union, is reportedly nearing a deal that would get Hollywood back to work, but nothing has been finalized at the time of this article’s writing.

HBO and Max Executive Casey Bloys Says The Penguin Will Help Fight Superhero Fatigue

During a recent 2024 programming showcase in New York, Bloys argued that The Penguin and the studio’s various DC-inspired television shows have a clear sense of style, something that might not be the case in the stories of other superhero competitors.

“I don’t know that it’s necessarily tentpole fatigue as much as it is a sameness of storytelling,” Bloys explained. “I think the key, even within DC, is trying to tell different stories in different styles, to not try to do the same show over and over and over again. I would say Peacemaker is a very different show tonally than The Penguin. So, there’s not a uniformity to the storytelling and I think that helps. Unfortunately, Marvel, as good as their shows are, there’s probably been a lot of them. That’s one of the advantages we have at Warner Bros. is it’s not just one set of stories. There’s a lot of stories you can go to.”

What Is The Penguin About?

We don’t have a tone of details yet about The Penguin, but we do know that the series is expected to be set in the aftermath of the events of The Batman.

“We are thrilled to bring audiences a new version of this iconic DC character that they have never seen before,” Sarah Aubrey, Head of Original Content, HBO Max, said in a statement when the show was announced. “It is incredible to be working with Matt, Dylan and Lauren on continuing this story and to see Colin take his already exceptional performance in ‘The Batman’ to the next level.”

“Colin exploded off the screen as the Penguin in ‘The Batman,’ and having the chance to thoroughly explore the inner life of that character on HBO Max is an absolute thrill,” The Batman director Matt Reeves echoed. “Dylan and I are so excited to work with Lauren in continuing Oz’s story as he grabs violently for power in Gotham.”

The Batman will star Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot / The Penguin and Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone, Clancy Brown as Salvatore Maroni, as well as Rhenzy Feliz, Michael Kelly, Shohreh Aghdashloo, and Deirdre O’Connell.