The Batman Prevented a Major Villain From Being in the DCEU (& It Was Perfect)

There was never a solo Batman movie set in the DC Extended Universe, but the franchise featured plenty of notable Gotham City figures. The Dark Knight himself, of course, plays a substantial role in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League. Members of Batman’s iconic rogues’ gallery popped up as well, most notably Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn. After making her debut in 2016’s Suicide Squad, Robbie headlined Birds of Prey, which sees Harley team up with Huntress, Black Canary, and Renee Montoya to save Cassandra Cain from Gotham crime boss Roman Sionis, aka Black Mask. However, the original concept for the film saw the Birds of Prey face a different Gotham criminal: the Penguin.

While promoting her new movie A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, Robbie and her co-star Colin Farrell did a joint interview with Entertainment Weekly. During the conversation, Robbie revealed the first Birds of Prey script featured the Penguin as the villain. Things had to change because Matt Reeves had plans for the Penguin in The Batman. “And then Matt Reeves said, ‘Don’t use the Penguin. I’m going to use him in my thing,’” Robbie said. “And so we swapped it to Black Mask.” The revelation came as a surprise to Farrell, who played the Penguin in The Batman and its TV spinoff The Penguin.

The Penguin is a Major Part of Matt Reeves’ Batman Epic Crime Saga

While Penguin has a smaller, supporting part in The Batman, it soon became clear Reeves had big plans for the character in his Batman Epic Crime Saga. The Penguin is all about Oz Cobb’s journey to the top of the Gotham criminal underworld, setting the stage for his role in the upcoming The Batman Part II. It remains to be seen if there will ever be a second season of The Penguin (which was conceived as a limited series to bridge the two films), but Oz should be a principal player in the remaining movies. Reeves plans on making a third Batman film to round out a trilogy.

The Batman and The Penguin are set in their own continuity separate from the DCEU. Theoretically, there’s a world where The Batman and Birds of Prey both could have featured the Penguin without causing each other problems since the two films aren’t connected in any way. Still, it’s easy to see why Reeves made this request. It might have been confusing for audiences if there was a new cinematic Penguin introduced so soon after the character was the main villain in a different movie. And if Birds of Prey‘s Penguin was as “amazing” as Robbie teases in the interview, The Batman would have been behind the eight ball trying to justify why there has to be a different big-screen Oswald Cobblepot.

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If Reeves’ request was denied, he might have even felt compelled to write the Penguin out of the Batman Epic Crime Saga, which would have been a disappointing turn of events. Farrell’s interpretation has earned widespread acclaim and The Penguin received a whopping 24 Emmy nominations. Not only that, it’s difficult to see how Reeves’ franchise can work without the character. Since the filmmaker is telling a crime saga, it makes sense for someone as notorious as the Penguin to be involved. He is a key part of Gotham’s underworld.

While Penguin feels like an integral component of the Batman Epic Crime Saga, it arguably wasn’t as important that he fill the role of “evil crime boss” in Birds of Prey. There are no shortage of figures who fit that bill in the DC mythos (particularly in Batman’s corner of the universe), so it was easy for Birds of Prey to make the shift to Black Mask. Ultimately, it worked out for the best. Ewan McGregor had a fun turn bringing Sionis to life in Birds of Prey, and Farrell is continuing to leave his mark on Reeves’ franchise.