The chances of Robert Pattinsons’s Batman showing up in the newDCseries,The Penguin, are addressed by the creative team. While the world eagerly waits forThe 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 inThe Batman,Colin Farrell is reprising the role of Oz Cobb inThe PenguinTV show, which will eventually set uphis return forThe Batman - Part II.
In a newSFX magazineinterview withThe Penguinshowrunner 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 ofThe Batmanuniverse. 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 part ofThe Penguin’simpressive cast, it’s worth looking into the idea of whether the show even needs the Caped Crusader. It’s crucial to remember thatThe Penguinwill take place directly afterthe ending ofThe 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 ifThe Penguinwas 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 calledThe 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.
On July 28, 2025, it was revealed that anotherspinoff inThe Batmanuniverseis currently in development.
Looking at otherBatmanproperties as an example,Gothamsucceeded 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 Penguinis 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 inThe Penguinor if there is perhaps a surprise in store for viewers.
The Penguin
Cast
Created by Lauren LeFranc, The Penguin is a crime-drama spin-off television series of 2022’s film The Batman. Set shortly after the events of The Batman, Oz Cobb, A.K.A. the Penguin, begins his rise in the underworld of Gotham City as he contends with the daughter of his late boss, Carmine Falcone, for control of the crime family’s empire.
Source:SFX magazine
