The Batman Composer Michael Giacchino’s Son Is Scoring The Penguin

HBO’s The Penguin series arrives in just a matter of days, bringing to life a whole new extension of Matt Reeves’ take on the DC mythos. In the lead-up to The Penguin‘s debut, we have now learned that one aspect of the series’ production has a unique tie to The Batman. Mick Giacchino, whose previous work includes The Muppets Mayhem, Zootopia+, and That Dirty Black Bag, has been confirmed to be the composer for all episodes of The Penguin.

In addition to his own filmography, Giacchino is also the son of The Batman composer Michael Giacchino. Michael, whose main theme for 2022’s The Batman has become an iconic part of the character’s modern pop-culture presence, already confirmed in an interview with The Wrap that he will be returning for 2026’s The Batman Part II.

What Is The Penguin About?

The Penguin is being referred to as “the next chapter in The Batman saga from Matt Reeves.” 

The series will star Colin Farrell as Oz Cobb, Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone, Rhenzy Feliz as Victor Aguilar, Michael Kelly as Johnny Viti, Shohreh Aghdashloo as Nadia Maroni, Deirdre O’Connell as Francis Cobb, Clancy Brown as Salvatore Maroni, James Madio as Milos Grapa, Scott Cohen as Luca Falcone, Michael Zegen as Alberto Falcone, Carmen Ejogo as Eve Karlo, and Theo Rossi as Dr. Julian Rush.

Will Batman Appear in The Penguin?

One of the biggest questions surrounding The Penguin has been whether or not Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne / Batman will appear, as a way to bridge the gap between the series and 2026’s The Batman Part II. In a recent interview with SFX Magazine, The Penguin showrunner Lauren LeFranc and The Batman director Matt Reeves confirmed that Batman will not make any sort of cameo appearance in the series.

“I understand why people’s desire would be to have Batman, or to think that unless Batman’s in a show or a film then it doesn’t have the same punch,” LeFranc explained. “To me I think it packs a different punch. Matt’s films are through the lens of the Batman, so you’re high up, looking down on the city. It’s a different perspective. With Oz, you’re in the city streets, you’re in the grit and the muck and the grime. He’s looking up, wanting to claw his way to the top. So it’s a different experience. I think Gotham is an interesting enough city that it deserves to have more doors unlocked within it, and for us to walk through those and see what we think.”  

“I don’t feel like it’s missing something fundamental,” Reeves echoed. “I feel like it’s an extension of what is fundamentally there. We know this is the world of Batman. You’re going down a different alley. So the spectre of Batman is there. The spectre of the Riddler is there. The spectre of everything that happens in the last movie is there. It informs it. And it’s exactly where we begin.”

The Penguin will premiere exclusively on HBO on September 19th.