There has been a lot of hype amongst DC fans about the potential of the Joker being a main villain in The Batman: Part II. Director Matt Reeves set up the character with a chilling moment in The Batman (as well as a deleted scene), showing rising star Barry Keoghan as the newest iteration of DC’s most iconic villain. While there’s no shortage of excitement for Keoghan to take on a bigger role in Reeves’ version of Gotham City, The Penguin just proved to everyone that the Clown Prince of Crime isn’t the villain The Batman: Part II needs or deserves. After the Riddler terrorized both Bruce Wayne and Gotham City in The Batman, it’s Oswald Cobb who needs to fill the same role in Part II.
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WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for the finale of The Penguin! Continue reading at your own risk…
After the events of The Penguin, Colin Farrell’s crime kingpin should absolutely be the main villain of The Batman: Part II. Other villains like Joker, Riddler, or whoever else can absolutely play a role in the film, but it now feels impossible for anything to happen without Penguin being front and center.
At the conclusion of The Penguin, Oswald Cobb flipped the script on organized crime in Gotham City. The Falcones and Maroni’s were stripped of their power and control, and Oz helped lead a revolution amongst the under-appreciated right hands of Gotham’s other gangs. He also made a power move with Gotham City politicians, getting in close with the right people and finding himself in a place where he’s nearly untouchable.
The Penguin has control of the city, but that’s not the biggest reason Reeves needs to rely on him to rival Bruce Wayne in The Batman: Part II. Over the course of The Penguin, Oswald did everything to prove to the fans watching that he’s as dark and diabolical as anyone else. Sure, the Joker has a twisted sense of humor, but Oswald is a terrifying, stone-cold killer that can squeeze the life out of the people he loves most without even batting an eye. No, literally — that’s exactly what he just did to the only person who actually cared about him.
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Reeves, Farrell, and The Penguin creator Lauren LeFranc put together a story that turned a sometimes funny mobster into one of the most layered and horrifying villains we’ve seen in live-action DC stories. Now he has a dangerous combination of drive and power, making him the most formidable kind of foe for a detective like Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne. He’s simultaneously everything Bruce hates about Gotham City, while also being just like Bruce in many ways. Both men are deeply entrenched into the essence of Gotham itself. You could argue that the city created and raised each of them, making them more ideal rivals than Batman and Joker.
It’ll be fun to see Keoghan’s Joker run wild on the big screen, but he’ll need to wait for The Batman: Part III to really take over. Oswald Cobb has earned the right to lead the way in Part II.
