Are you looking for a new show? This might be the one for you! Viewers and critics alike have been loving this series, which takes a classic superhero villain and puts him at the centre stage.
The Penguin is a spin-off from the Robert Pattinson movie The Batman, and follows Colin Farrell in some serious prosthetics and make-up as Oz Cobb, AKA one of Batman's most dangerous adversaries, The Penguin.
The series follows Oz as he attempts to take control of the criminal syndicate in Gotham following the Riddler's attempts to destroy the city by breaking down the sea wall. With a supporting case including Black Mirror star Cristin Milioti and Cruella star Mark Strong, the show has been widely praised.
© HBOTaking to X, one person wrote; "The writing for #ThePenguin is stunning. I don’t even care if that phrase doesn’t make sense but we’re 3 episodes in and I can’t believe how good it is."
Another person added: "Honestly, #ThePenguin did a better job of showing how [expletive] horrifying a sudden city flood would be than The Batman did. The film did it from the perspective of a distant observer, The Penguin showed it from somebody who experienced it."
© HBOAnother fan posted: "This is truly peak television. Elite story writing still exists," while another wrote: "This show just keeps getting better and better."
The show required several hours of makeup for Colin, and executive producer Matt Reeves opened up about the shock of seeing Colin in full costume, telling the Toolkit podcast: "It actually scared me. I was like, ‘Wait a minute, but this has to be Colin. Are we going to be able to see Colin’s performance? He’s such a beautiful actor.
© HBO"The expressive parts of this are Colin, there’s no impediment physically to those things that create emotion, which is what you see in his face. It was as if another presence was born, something that didn’t exist before was released, somehow being freed from his physicality and seeing himself as this other person."
Speaking on the Graham Norton Show, Colin added: "The hands are the only thing that was me. It was three hours in the morning and 40 minutes to take off… to look at myself in the mirror and see that staring back at me was very powerful."
