2 weeks Ago By Garth Franklin
It has been confirmed that Robert Pattinson’s take on Bruce Wayne/Batman will NOT be appearing in the upcoming spin-off series “The Penguin” on HBO & Max. The series takes place just days after the events of the 2022 “The Batman” film in a partially flooded Gotham and will deal with the turf war between factions of the underworld in the wake of Falcone’s death. Both series writer/showrunner Lauren LeFranc, and “The Batman” filmmaker Matt Reeves spoke with about the show and discussed why the shift in focus here ruled Batman out from appearing.
LeFranc says she understands why people’s desire would be to have Batman, and see a work without him as not having “the same punch”. However, she says: “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.” Reeves meanwhile adds that despite his absence, the show won’t feel like it’s missing a key piece: “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.” Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Clancy Brown, Rhenzy Feliz, Michael Kelly, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Deirdre O’Connell, Michael Zegen, Theo Rossi, Carmen Ejogo, François Chau and Mark Strong star in the series.
“The Penguin” runs for eight episodes from September 19th to November 10th on HBO..
