The Penguin Mid-Season Trailer Teases The Batman Universe’s Epic Gang War

The Penguin mid-season trailer has been released by HBO and Max streaming, teasing the epic gang war between Oswald “Oz” Cobb (Colin Farrell) and Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti). As this mid-season trailer arrives, we’ve seen four episodes of The Penguin deliver some of the most highly-acclaimed television that DC and Warner Bros. have produced for the franchise, with Episode 4 sparking major Emmys buzz for the series. Interest in The Penguin is higher than ever – and this kind of trailer will probably ensure the current audience sticks with the show, and get new viewers to believe the hype!

The Penguin mid-season trailer shows the streets of Gotham exploding into a gang war for the new drug trade. (SPOILERS) After Episode 4 ended with Sofia Falcone murdering most of her own crime family, it looks like she will be building a new on its bones, with her seated at the head of the table as the new don. Meanwhile, The Maronis are still on the rampage, looking to finally end the Falcones. At the same time, they’re weak – and squeezed in the middle is Penguin, who is seen looking unusually vulnerable and down, with the women in his life – his mother Francis (Deirdre O’Connell) and main girl Eve (Carmen Ejogo) – pulling away from him as the underworld power struggle takes this ugly new turn.

As always, however, Oz seems to use his twisted, scrappy resourcefulness to wriggle and waddle through to new opportunities. Then again, the footage makes it seem like Sofia is truly committed to ending Penguin and owning the city herself – so much so that we get hints of it coming down to some violent shootouts between the two.

As stated, The Penguin has beat all odds to become the most acclaimed show – not just a comic book show – of the fall 2024 season. Farrell and Milioti’s portrayal of Oz and Sofia are certainly highlights, but the entire cast and crew of the show are cooking with real gas. This series is making big strides for widening The Batman Universe and making fans go back and look at Matt Reeves’ 2022 film in a whole new light. It’s also making viewers and critics alike rethink some of the underlying skepticism that major superhero movie franchises can’t produce prestige-level content.

In fact, HBO is betting heavily that after the Emmy-winning success of HBO’s Watchmen (a DC comic book series) and now Penguin, the fusion of prestige programming and major IP brands will be a potent formula for both ratings and streaming success. So far, it seems to be working: The Penguin is keeping HBO Sunday night appointment TV alive just as much as Game of Thrones, or The Sopranos (a show Penguin is often compared to); it’s also getting viewers to head back into Max streaming to watch The Batman again. HBO is already restructuring its slate with this new strategy in mind: James Gunn’s and John Cena’s Peacemaker Season 2 is set to air on HBO next year, while the Green Lantern TV series Lanterns is currently in production and set for the same kind of HBO release.

The Penguin airs new episodes Sunday nights on HBO and streams on Max.