The chances of Robert Pattinsons's Batman showing up in the new DC series, The Penguin, are addressed by the creative team. While the world eagerly waits for The Batman - Part II, Matt Reeves is getting ready to expand his DC Elseworlds franchise by taking his universe to the world of television. After being introduced as one of the villains in The Batman, Colin Farrell is reprising the role of Oz Cobb in The Penguin TV show, which will eventually set up his return for The Batman - Part II.
In a new SFX magazine interview with The Penguin showrunner Lauren LeFranc and executive producer Matt Reeves, the duo were asked whether fans should expect to see Pattinson make a cameo as Batman. LeFranc and Reeves made it clear that this show is meant to represent different corners of The Batman universe. They shared the following:
Lauren LeFranc: 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.
Matt Reeves: I don't feel like it's missing something fundamental. 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.
Will The Penguin Succeed Without Batman?
While time will tell if LeFranc and Reeves are simply being coy about whether Pattinson's Batman is actually in The Penguin, it's worth looking into the idea of whether the show even needs the Caped Crusader. It's crucial to remember that The Penguin will take place directly after the ending of The Batman, when Gotham City was flooded by The Riddler's terrorist attack. At this point, Bruce will be busy helping the city, meaning from a story context, Batman and Penguin will likely be as far away from each other as possible.
It would have been a different situation if The Penguin was in the scenario that Sony's Spider-Man Universe is, where audience members are regularly expecting the wall-crawler to show up. Had the show been called The Batman: The Penguin, it would have been more reasonable to want to see Batman show up at least once. However, with this specifically being Oz's series, the focus should be on him and the supporting characters around him.
Looking at other Batman properties as an example, Gotham succeeded because it was always set up to be a prequel, meaning that Batman showing up was never a guarantee and was fully dependent on how long the series ran. In the end, The Penguin is about showing the perspective of other key characters in this franchise, which is good, as there are a lot of great players in this universe that Reeves can focus on besides the Dark Knight. But for now, time will tell if Pattinson is actually not popping up in The Penguin or if there is perhaps a surprise in store for viewers.
