The Penguin Trailer: Who Is DC’s Rex Calabrese?

The Penguin TV series spinoff of The Batman franchise released a new teaser trailer today – one that continues to put the mob-drama style and tone of the series before the large superhero franchise story. 

The framework of The Penguin trailer has Colin Farrell’s Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin telling a story to someone else, about a gangster he grew up with in his neighborhood – Rex Calabrese. The point of Penguin’s story is to convey how much respect Calabrese got being a gangster who also cared for his neighborhood – to the point of getting a respectable local funeral parade when he died. 

Who Is Batman’s Rex Calabrese? 

Rex Calabrese was introduced in 2010s DC Comics, and has been established as the true father of Selina Kyle/Catwoman (or “Selina Calabrese”). Calabrese was known as “The Lion” in the underworld until he had his throne deposed by the rise of Carmine “the Roman” Falcone. Calabrese went into hiding, taking on the name “Leo Leone” when he was eventually sent to Blackgate Penitentiary. Calabrese would still influence the underworld from prison, eventually making contact with Selina and letting her know her true family legacy. 

Obviously, The Penguin TV series is just using Rex Calabrese as an Easter egg tossed out to help convey a bit more about Oz’s backstory and his motivations for being a gangster. That said, it’s also a name-drop that could lead to bigger things in The Penguin and The Batman film series – especially if they go with any of the Catwoman origin story material as a twist in the storyline of Zoe Kravitz’s Selina Kyle. 

What Is The Penguin About? 

The Penguin is an eight-episode DC TV crime-drama that follows Colin Farrell’s Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot as he rises through the darkened ranks to become the Penguin, and fill the underworld power vacuum left by Carmine “The Roman” Falcone after his death. The series is set in the immediate aftermath of The Batman, which ended with parts of Gotham underwater after the anarchist Riddler (Paul Dano) gunned down Falcone and flooded the city, and will see Penguin vying for power against rivals like Salvatore Maroni (Clancy Brown) and Carmine’s daughter Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti). Rhenzy Feliz (Runaways), Michael Kelly (Man of Steel, House of Cards), Shohreh Aghdashloo (The Expanse), Deirdre O’Connell (Marvel’s Daredevil), Michael Zegen (Boardwalk Empire) and John Cenatiempo (Joker) have all been cast, with Kelly playing Falcone family underboss Johnny Vitti and Zegen playing Alberto Falcone, Carmine’s oddball son. 

The Batman director Matt Reeves and his Batman producer Dylan Clark serve as executive producers on the Max Original series alongside Farrell and Lauren LeFranc (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Impulse), who writes and serves as showrunner. Also on board as executive producers are two-time Emmy-nominated director Craig Zobel (HBO’s Mare of Easttown), who directed the first three episodes, and Bill Carraro (Lovecraft Country, Dexter: New Blood). 

The Penguin will be released on Max in late 2024.