There can always be more than one—at least where characters in the extended Batman universe are concerned. We’ve got at least four Harley Quinns in assorted movies and series, so why not two Penguins? Last weekend, a newcomer to the Penguin scene was announced: Minnie Driver will be voicing a gender-swapped Penguin in the upcoming animated series Batman: Caped Crusader.
Driver joins Hamish Linklater as Batman and Jamie Chung as Harley Quinn (yes, another one) in the show, which comes from Bruce Timm (Batman: The Animated Series) and has Ed Brubaker as head writer for its first season. The New York Times said of Caped Crusader, “In its storytelling, the new series is not necessarily concerned with making Batman likable — either to the citizens of Gotham or to its audience — as he pursues his agenda.”
At San Diego Comic Con, Driver said of Oswalda Cobblepot, “This was such a beautiful retelling of that villain. It was joyful. And, I mean, she’s dreadful.”
Caped Crusader also stars the voices of Diedrich Bader, Christina Ricci, Mckenna Grace, David Krumholtz, Haley Joel Osment, and Toby Stephens, among many others. It premieres on Prime Video on August 1st.
Not to be outdone, Colin Farrell’s Penguin also made an appearance at SDCC. Farrell had to Zoom in for the show’s panel, which featured director Matt Reeves and co-stars Cristin Milioti and Rhenzy Feliz, along with makeup designer Mike Marino and executive producer Dylan Clark. You know the makeup is important when the makeup designer is on the Comic-Con panel; Marino said that this Penguin’s look “was inspired by Harvey Weinstein and injured birds,” Variety noted.
The Penguin’s panel came with a new trailer, in which Mr. Cobb does several different kinds of murder and plans to run Gotham’s criminal elements before encountering an unexpected bit of opposition: Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti), freshly released from Arkham. “I’ve been rehabilitated,” she says, unconvincingly. The most enjoyable moment in this whole trailer may be the alarmed look on good old Oz’s face when she says this.
The Penguin’s cast also includes Shohreh Aghdashloo as Nadia Maroni, Clancy Brown as Salvatore Maroni, and Carmen Ejogo as Eve Karlo. The eight-episode limited series premieres September 19th on Max.
