The long wait for The Batman Part II became a bit more tenable when TV spinoff The Penguin premiered in 2024. Bringing Colin Farrell’s transformative take on the classic villain to the forefront, the show was essentially DC’s riff on The Sopranos, exploring Oz Cobb’s rise through Gotham’s criminal underworld in the immediate aftermath of the Riddler attacks. The Penguin earned widespread acclaim (including a record number of Emmy nominations), with much praise being given to its gripping storytelling and compelling performances. Considering how successful the show was, fans have long been interested in a second season, but it doesn’t sound like that is going to happen.
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In the latest edition of his newsletter, industry insider Jeff Sneider had a disappointing update on The Penguin Season 2. “[Colin] Farrell has revealed that he’s only in two small scenes in The Batman Part II, and I’m told that DC and HBO are not moving forward with a second season of The Penguin, which will remain a limited series,” he wrote.
The Penguin’s Future In Matt Reeves’ Batman Franchise Explained
Those involved with The Penguin have seemed open to some sort of continuation down the line, but the common refrain has always been that the show was conceived as a miniseries to help bridge the gap between Matt Reeves’ first two Batman movies. The hope was that after The Penguin became such an unparalleled hit, Reeves and Co. would be inspired to add another chapter to the story. That could always change, of course, but it sounds like that isn’t in the cards. DC fans will surely be disappointed to hear this; The Penguin is one of the best TV shows of the decade, adding depth and richness to Farrell’s memorable turn in The Batman.
The combination of this and Farrell’s small role in The Batman Part II (Farrell won’t be joining the production for a handful of weeks) is a difficult pill for fans to swallow, as it means the character’s screen time will be quite limited in the immediate future. That’s a shame because The Penguin turned Oz Cobb into one of the franchise’s most interesting characters. Perhaps things would have turned out differently if the timing was better. As The Penguin took off in popularity, the script for The Batman Part II was already so far along that Reeves and co-writer Mattson Tomlin didn’t have an opportunity to tweak things and increase Penguin connections. Cristin Milioti isn’t reprising Sofia Falcone in The Batman Part II, despite The Penguin ending with a tease of her ties to Selina Kyle.
We won’t be seeing much of Oz or Sofia over the next couple of years, but that doesn’t mean their time in the Batman Epic Crime Saga is coming to an end. Reeves has plans to make a third movie to round out a trilogy, so he could always give Farrell and Milioti expanded roles in the threequel. At this point, both Oz and Sofia are established as such strong characters in the franchise that it would be a waste if they weren’t part of the main focus in The Batman 3. In that scenario, the first two movies and the TV show could operate as a slow buildup, gradually setting Penguin up to become the primary antagonist in the finale.
There’s also the potential for other The Batman spinoffs that could happen, so maybe Oz Cobb could appear in one of those shows. Of course, whether or not any of those projects actually happens remains to be seen. Just because something is in the “early stages” of development doesn’t guarantee it’ll get a green light. Not only does it come down to cracking the right story, there are other outside factors at play. The Batman Epic Crime Saga isn’t connected to the DC Universe franchise, which is about to introduce moviegoers to its version of Gotham City (Clayface) and has a Batman film in development. James Gunn has said both takes can co-exist, but it would arguably be simpler if The Batman Epic Crime Saga wrapped things up and paved the way for the DCU.
