The Penguin’s Sopranos-Inspired Moves: A Match Made in Gotham Heaven or Hell?

The Penguin Is a Noir Tour de Force

Penguin Fully Capitalizes on Its Crime Drama Premise

Though The Penguin takes place right after the events of Matt Reeves’ The Batman, the new TV series is not at all a superhero show. Instead, it feels even grittier and more street-level than the movie it’s a spun off from, namely in how it deals with crime. As the name of the show suggests, it focuses on Colin Farrell’s Oswald Cobb as he rises in the ranks of Gotham City’s organized crime in order to fill the void of the dead Carmine Falcone. All the while, he makes a surprising new ally and runs afoul of Sal Maroni and Falcone’s own daughter, the supposed serial killer Sofia Falcone.

Throughout the narrative, the series flashes back to years ago, with some of these events taking place long before the arrival of Batman in Gotham City. By the end, it’s a truly tragic tale that brutally affects all the characters involved in The Penguin’s life. Batman himself is absent from the series, with The Riddler (who’s incarcerated after the events of the preceding movie) actually being referenced more. This gives the series room to allow its titular villain to breathe, even if he likely pulls a lot of smog into his lungs when he does so.

The Penguin is a bleak and morose show, with the language and violence more than earning the TV-MA rating. The scope, tone and premise of the series help it feel a lot like the classic series The Sopranos, namely in the flashbacks. Said scenes recall the youth of Tony Soprano, and it captures the hopelessness of the character’s situation and the lives of those around him. Even without Batman present in the show, it’s a world that feels as if it needs him. Of course, those expecting a project that feels in line with stereotypical comic books might be disappointed, which is something that’s become a recurring criticism of the Reeves movie. In the end, however, this is a good thing for this shared universe and another one that’s on the way.

Losing the Grounded Tone Would Ruin Matt Reeves’ The Batman

Changing the Tone Could Doom The Batman Franchise to Fail Like the DCEU

​​​​While fans might bemoan the fact that Clayface and Man-Bat will be absent from the Batman projects by Matt Reeves, it’s ultimately for the best. Reeves clearly wants to tell the more personal and relatable tales in Batman’s history, and these have largely been some of his best, even in the comics. The reason for the popularity of villains such as The Joker, Two-Face and others is a reflection of their frequently getting great stories, and it’s simply easier to write personal, tense tales with these foes than a giant bat or a man wearing a refrigerator suit.

There aren’t a lot of stories to pull from for some of Batman’s most over-the-top villains, with even Mr. Freeze only really having the sole episode “Heart of Ice” in terms of the stories he’s known for. The writers could tell original stories with these foes, but they would have to be radically changed to fit in the world of The Batman. It’s arguable that Reeves could jump the shark and introduce accurate versions of those villains into this world, but that would be a major mistake. As shown in The Batman and The Penguin, the world that Matt Reeves has created is one with human stakes, stories and threats.

The difference is that those are comic books meant to constantly have content produced every month, as opposed to expensive movies with specific artistic visions.

Dropping inhuman bat monsters or plant-controlling femme fatales would only hurt that tone, with the entire idea of it all being analogous to throwing aliens or cyborgs into a gritty noir drama like The Sopranos simply because it’s “cool.” It’s not the kind of thing that Reeves seems interested in doing, and forcing the issue (namely when the DC Universe exists) will only water down or completely destroy his vision. Some might argue that Batman comic books sometimes start off gritty and street-level (namely with origins such as Batman: Year One) before becoming more “comic booky” as time goes on. The difference is that those are comic books meant to constantly have content produced every month, as opposed to expensive movies with specific artistic visions.

The Penguin would be utterly ruined if it featured Mr. Freeze or Man-Bat, as they would feel, at best, like wastes of time meant as gimmicks for the story. Likewise, the tone of the series allows it to reach audiences that otherwise might eschew superhero projects. It helps that shows such as The Boys and Invincible have rejuvenated superhero TV shows from being completely stagnant, and their more adult tone is a big part of that. If anything, more projects in the universe of The Batman should be made in this vein, as it makes them unique amid a genre that’s been defined in modern times by Marvel Studios.

The Penguin is now streaming on Max.