It took longer than fans anticipated, but The Batman Part II is finally moving forward, gearing up for the start of production ahead of its October 2027 release date. To commemorate the milestone, director Matt Reeves recently took to social media to announce the highly anticipated sequel’s cast, a fascinating blend of returning faces and franchise newcomers. One of the biggest names in the former category is Colin Farrell, who’s reprising his role as Oz Cobb/Penguin, following his previous appearances in The Batman and TV spinoff The Penguin. Audiences are very much looking forward to seeing more of the actor’s transformative work in the role, but Farrell himself has a disappointing update on that front.
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Speaking with Collider, Farrell shared that Reeves and Co. will start rolling cameras “in a week.” However, he won’t be on set at the very beginning. “I will go fly to London in four or five weeks. I haven’t got much to do on it, but I’ll go for four or five weeks,” he said. “I’ll be there for a few weeks. I’m so excited to see it as a fan.”
Farrell also made sure to praise Reeves’ storytelling approach. “The script, I’ve said before, and you know, I said it to you, it’s extraordinary. It really is. Matt is just so brilliant, and he just cares so deeply about the stories he tells.”
The Penguin Should Have a Small Role In The Batman Part II
For those who have been following development on The Batman Part II for a while, Farrell’s latest comments shouldn’t come as a big surprise. Back in September 2025, he admitted “I’ve got an even smaller role in this one” when compared to the first Batman. Nevertheless, it’s still disappointing to hear that remains the plan. One might have hoped that after The Penguin earned widespread acclaim and received a record-breaking number of Emmy nominations, Reeves might have looked to capitalize on the character’s popularity by expanding his role. After all, scripts can always be revised during pre-production.
The odds of that happening with The Batman Part II were always low, unfortunately. Reeves confirmed last fall that Cristin Milioti, who earned considerable praise for her turn as Sofia Falcone on The Penguin, would not appear in The Batman Part II. The reasoning, per the director, is that the Batman 2 script was already “so far along” by the time The Penguin became a massive success. Rather than rework the film’s screenplay (which would have delayed The Batman Part II even further), Reeves decided to stick with the story he always intended to tell — one that apparently revolves around Harvey Dent and his family.
While Farrell has just a small role and Milioti won’t be in the movie at all, The Batman Part II should still feature some connections to The Penguin. The miniseries has always been described as a bridge between Reeves’ first two Batman movies, establishing Oz’s place in Gotham’s underworld and setting up his part in the sequel. It’ll be interesting to see how Penguin fits into the story. It wouldn’t be surprising if he had some sort of history with this iteration of Harvey Dent. As Gotham’s district attorney, Dent is likely well aware of who Oz is and has attempted to put a dent in his operation before.
The fact that Farrell doesn’t have much to do in The Batman Part II will only increase calls to make The Penguin Season 2. Fans would certainly love to see more of Farrell and Milioti as their iconic DC characters, and the TV series is clearly an excellent way to flesh those characters out in ways the movies can’t. That said, The Penguin was always conceived as a miniseries, and a continuation won’t happen unless the creative team can iron out the right story. It also remains to be seen what becomes of Oz in The Batman Part II, and if the film could lay the groundwork for another season of TV. If The Penguin Season 2 doesn’t happen, hopefully Oz and Sofia could return in Reeves’ planned third movie, wrapping up the trilogy.
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