The Penguin Teaser Released Ahead of 2024 Premiere on Max

The Penguin has released its first teaser ahead of the eight-episode series’ debut on MAX later in 2024. Starring Colin Farrell as Oswald “Oz” Cobbleplot (aka the titular gangster), The Penguin follows Oz as he tries to climb the criminal ladder of Gotham City. 

The Penguin is a spin-off of the 2022 film The Batman (directed by Matt Reeves, starring Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne/Batman), where Farrell first played the role. He was disguised under makeup to mimic the Penguin’s pudgy, beak-nosed comic book and again dons the make-up for this new series.

The Batman Part II was recently delayed to an October 2, 2026 release date. The Penguin will thus work to tide over Bat-fans in the meantime.

This teaser underscores the connection by using the same red-colored title font as the movie, down to a text insert describing it as “The Next Chapter of the Batman Saga.”

The teaser, running 90 seconds, mostly sees Oz sitting in a chair and monologuing to an offscreen listener about a gangster who was beloved in his neighborhood and remembered after he died. The implication is that Oz intends to build a legacy like that for himself. 

The Batman featured Oz working under kingpin Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), who was dead by the movie’s end. The series will feature him squaring off with other gangsters to claim Falcone’s crown. (These characters are also adapted from the comics, mostly Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s Batman: The Long Halloween.) 

Cristin Milioti (How I Met Your Mother) plays Sofia Falcone, Carmine’s daughter and the series’ female lead, while Michael Zegan plays his son Alberto Falcone. 

Clancy Brown appears as imprisoned crime boss Salvatore Maroni, who was mentioned but unseen during The Batman.

Other confirmed cast members include Rhenzy Felix (Marvel’s Runaways), Shohreh Aghdashloo, Michael Kelly, Carmen Ejogo, Theo Rossi, and Deirdre O’Connell.

Craig Zobel (who previously directed Mare of Easttown for MAX) is directing the first three Penguin episodes. Lauren LeFranc is showrunner, while Reeves is an executive producer.

No exact release date for The Penguin beyond 2024 has been confirmed.

Watch the The Penguin teaser trailer:

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The Penguin streams exclusively on MAX. 

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