Cinematic genres have always been hard to pin down. The lines between horror and action, or comedy and drama, tend to be subjective. Superhero movies are connected by a single central element, but everything beyond the existence of a costumed crime-fighter is open to interpretation. Tone, style, inspiration, and everything else can change while fitting into the same category. One genre containing The Dark Knight and Avengers: Endgame feels wrong, but what happens when the creators ditch superheroes entirely? The Penguin could answer that question.
The Batman completed a long metanarrative arc in which every successive Batman film needed to be darker and grittier than the last. Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher's fanciful cartoon universe gave way to Christopher Nolan's realistic vigilante story. Matt Reeves one-upped Nolan with a story about a sleep-deprived sociopath in an armored costume fighting organized crime and deranged serial murderers. The Penguin removes the costume to focus on the criminal underworld.
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The Penguin Is a Crime Drama Set in Gotham City
The Penguin trailer teases something closer to The Godfather than any previous piece of Batman-adjacent media. Mob bosses struggle for power in a world rocked by a sudden power vacuum. One week after the events of Matt Reeves' film, Oz Cobblepot will struggle to take over the void Carmine Falcone left in Gotham. Batman has no apparent part in the story. Instead, Sal Maroni, Carmine Falcone's surviving family members, and the titular Penguin will lead horrific acts of violence to secure profit and control. There are no heroes in The Penguin. It provides a deeper exploration of Gotham City, a grim world without the helping hand of its local billionaire vigilante. This isn't the first attempt to do something similar, but it breaks new ground in several ways.
Gotham aired for five seasons on Fox. The show depicted Gotham City Police Department officers struggling against the corrupt city they occupied. Though its premise initially promised NYPD Blue in Gotham City, most of its screen time explored the origin stories of Batman and his rogues gallery. Gotham spawned Pennyworth, later hilariously subtitled The Origin of Batman's Butler, which attempted a spy thriller in the Batman universe. That series also dedicated itself to setting the tables for a Batman project that would never arise. Gotham and Pennyworth wanted to be prequels to the idea of Batman. Neither show had the confidence to deliver a new story set in the same universe. The Penguin boldly pushes forward as an exploration of a setting fans know and love. It's a new perspective, instead of another attempt to tell the same story.
Superhero Fatigue Has Set In
Now is the best imaginable time to distance oneself from superheroes. The reliably bankable genre handed Disney and Warner Bros. hit after hit, but diminishing returns have set in. New entries regularly fall apart during production and reap sad returns at the box office. The Batman dominated its release window, and the sequel is likely to do the same, but it isn't immune to larger market forces. While many will accurately argue that fans aren't sick of superheroes but tired of rushed, lazy sequels and IP-driven filmmaking, the genre suffers from its hegemonic success. Superhero movies used to succeed as a group, but their current bad PR extends the same way. The Penguin offers a new direction for the ailing studios and their risk-averse strategies. They'll never dispense with their IP, so they have to find something new to do with them.
New Projects Could Explore Multiple Genres in Superhero Settings
Fans have been crying out for new stories in their favorite superhero universes for years. DC's fictional cities or Marvel's takes on real ones could provide settings for any variety of stories. Organized crime stories seem like the easiest example, as street-level heroes constantly tangle with the mob. Carmine Falcone's family was explicitly based on the Corleone dynasty from The Godfather, providing easy examples. Comics used to cover horror stories, enabling easy paths toward slasher movies, supernatural thrillers, and all manner of scary cinema. The people living in superhero universes have fascinating stories. Comedies, romances, dramas, thrillers, and everything in between. Imagine a heist movie in a superhero universe. These concepts could keep the Marvel and DC universes alive for years.
The Penguin represents a thrilling evolution in possibilities for the dull IP-driven blockbusters fans have grown used to. Studios are unlikely to ever abandon the profitable names they carry like security blankets. It's foolish to believe they can be persuaded to try new ideas. However, in The Penguin, Matt Reeves finds a way to tell unique and engaging stories while still appealing to the pursestring holders at the top. New worlds of original narrative can spring forth from every previously tapped well. Fans will have to wait and see whether studios follow The Penguin's example.
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