The Batman is set to feature a host of the Dark Knight’s biggest foes, something that has both excited and worried fans. There’s only so much screentime, after all, so how will writer/director Matt Reeves be able to balance a large rogues gallery of villains? We guessed some of them would be drawing the short straw, and we now know of one person who we can expect to only appear briefly: Oswald Cobblepot AKA the Penguin, as played by Colin Farrell.
While speaking to GMA Network, the Irish actor touched on his enthusiasm to get back to work on the DC superhero film once quarantine lifts. He also revealed, however, that he doesn’t have “much to do” in the movie, though he does tease that he’ll have a few “tasty scenes” to sink his teeth into as the Gotham City crime lord.
“And I haven’t got that much to do. I have a certain amount in the film. I am not all over it by any means. But there are a couple of some tasty scenes I have in it and my creation and I can’t wait to get back.”
As we’ve seen from set photos taken back when filming was underway in Scotland, Farrell has bleached his hair for the part, as well as piling on the pounds somewhat to match the comic book character’s portly appearance. By the sounds of it, he’ll be playing the Penguin at the beginning of his criminal career, as the actor mentions that we’ll see the supervillain’s “creation.”
Penguin not being a major antagonist in the pic actually fits in with a widely believed fan theory: that the Riddler will turn out to be the central big bad of The Batman. So far, we haven’t seen anything of Paul Dano on set as the Prince of Puzzles, which suggests that Edward Nashton, as the film calls him, will come out of the woodwork later on in the game, revealing that he’s been pulling the strings all along.
Elsewhere, you’ve got Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman and John Turturro as Carmine Falcone. On the side of justice, meanwhile, there’s Jeffrey Wright as Jim Gordon, Andy Serkis as Alfred and, of course, Robert Pattinson as the Batman. Expect the film to swoop into theaters from October 1st, 2021.