Few TV leads can say they endured extra to get into character than Colin Farrell, the good-looking main man who endured 3 1/2 hours of make-up daily to rework into the unrecognizable Oz Cobb for The Penguin.
Now the fruit of all these hours sitting within the make-up chair is about to bloom, with the present getting the closeup at San Diego Comedian-Con throughout a chief Saturday spot. HBO used the occasion to launch a brand new trailer for the present, which bows Sept. 19 on HBO and Max and acquired enormous applause after it performed to the Comedian-Con crowd. The sequence was initially set to be a Max authentic however moved underneath the HBO umbrella — which means it’s going to each run on the cable channel and stream on Max — as a part of a branding and technique shift.
The Penguin marks an growth of the universe of Matt Reeves’ The Batman, the 2022 hit that starred Robert Pattinson and which launched the world to Oz Cobb, the aspiring crime boss who rises to rule the Gotham underworld as The Penguin.
Farrell appeared just about, with different panelists together with Cristin Milioti (Sofia Falcone), Rhenzy Feliz (Victor Aguilar), govt producer Reeves, showrunner Lauren LeFranc, govt producer Dylan Clark and Mike Marino, who created the prosthetics for The Penguin.
Reeves revealed that whereas writing the three-hour The Batman, the script was so lengthy that he even approached the previous DC regime with the thought of turning it right into a TV present. That wasn’t within the playing cards, as DC didn’t work together with HBO at the moment. Later, Reeves needed to discover the rise of Oz Cobb at first of The Batman Half II, and in the end company modifications led to an HBO present instantly being within the playing cards, and thus the delivery of The Penguin.
Farrell famous that the character was unlocked for him the primary time he noticed a bust Marino created of the character.
“I immediately had a way of character, place, historical past, violence, ache. There was a lot that was etched on the face of the character. It did me such a stable,” stated the actor.
LeFranc recalled being amongst hte first folks to see bits of The Batman as she was creating the present. It was the peak of the pandemic, so she sat by herself with a masks at Warner Bros. watching elements from the film. “I needed to do justice to the world Matt created,” recalled the showrunner. “I believed Oz was this wild man – charming, problematic, fascinating, bizarre, darkish, soul I needed to dig into.
It’s laborious to consider, given how giant he loomed within the film, however Oz solely had three scenes within the film, as producer Clark identified. (A fourth was lower). However the govt producer knew Farrell needed to do extra with the character, and was happy the TV present grew to become an possibility.
As for the long run, The Batman II is on the horizon for 2026. Reeves revealed The Penguin will probably be within the film, which goals to shoot subsequent yr. It’s doable there might be extra TV reveals set on this universe. The Penguin hails from Warner Bros. Tv and DC Studios, the brand new arm run by James Gunn and Peter Safran. Reeves’ sixth & Idaho Productions and Dylan Clark Productions are additionally behind the undertaking, which additionally stars Michael Kelly (Johnny Viti), Shohreh Aghdashloo (Nadia Maroni), Deirdre O’Connell (Francis Cobb), Clancy Brown (Salvatore Maroni), James Madio (Milos Grapa), Scott Cohen (Luca Falcone), Michael Zegen (Alberto Falcone), Carmen Ejogo (Eve Karlo) and Theo Rossi (Dr. Julian Rush).
Watch the trailer beneath.