The Batman will feature a wide array of villains for Robert Pattinson's Dark Knight to go up against, one being Colin Farrell's Penguin. The actor, who looks completely unrecognizable in the role, has now revealed one of the biggest inspirations for his version of the character comes from The Godfather.
Oswald Cobblepot, a.k.a. the Penguin, has been cemented as one of Batman's most ruthless villains. In the comics, he is rejected by his wealthy family and seen as an outcast by many others due to his physical appearance at an early age. Penguin would grow up to become one of Gotham City's most ruthless mobsters, eventually running a nightclub that provides a cover for his criminal activity.
In a new interview with MovieMaker, director Matt Reeves and some stars of The Batman, including Farrell, recalled some of the biggest inspirations for the film and their characters that were discussed early in production, citing classic 1970s neo-noirs like Chinatown, Klute, All the President’s Men, and Paramount's The Godfather. For Farrell, however, one of the biggest influences for Oz (as his character despises being called Penguin) comes from The Godfather's Fredo Corleone, the unreliable son of Vito Corleone and older brother of the more efficient Michael Corleone. “There’s a certain amount of brokenness in Oz that, I think, as a reference, not for me performance-wise, but just emotionally, as a reference for Matt — I think Fredo from The Godfather was a bit of a reference,” Farrell shared.
“Matt was just talking about somebody who had very real and very lofty ambitions, but never really had the opportunity or the chance to explore them, and was maybe looked upon as someone who was handicapped, whether it was psychologically, intellectually — Fredo was frowned upon as less than the other brothers, and maybe Oz as well, in his life, was looked upon as somebody who wasn’t capable. And so that’s one of the things that fuels Oz," Farrell concluded. From what has been shown in the trailers, Farrell's version of the Penguin looks to be a much darker and realistic portrayal of the iconic villain.
Even though the main focus seems to be on Paul Dano's Riddler throughout the 175-minute runtime, The Batman will not mark the end for Farrell's character. He is set to reprise his role as Penguin in his own spin-off series for HBO Max.
Instead of depicting his origin story from when he was a child, The Batman will follow Bruce Wayne's second year of fighting crime, as the noir-driven story will see the caped crusader teaming up with certain allies to take down a new criminal with ties to his past. The film also stars Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, and Peter Sarsgaard as district attorney Gil Colson.
The Batman will hit theaters on March 4, 2022, and will be available to stream on HBO Max 45 days after its theatrical release.
Source: MovieMaker
