Let’s make one thing very clear from the beginning when it comes to my thoughts on The Penguin. I’ve always loved Batman. He is by far my favorite superhero and I vividly remember spending weekends as a kid watching Batman: The Animated Series and becoming a loyal subject to Kevin Conroy‘s everything when it came to this character. And as we’ve gotten reboot over reboot about the superhero, I’ve been there. I was even there for Robert Pattinson‘s Batman and found myself surprisingly impressed by his portrayal of the infamous caped crusader. So I know what I’m talking about when it comes to Batman. And I can wholeheartedly say with my whole chest that Colin Farrell‘s The Penguin looks absolutely boring and unnecessary.
The Penguin has always been an iconic villain within the Batman world. But he works in small doses. He doesn’t work to be given a whole series. None of the villains do unless you give them an expanded background on what transformed them into the villains they are today. And from what we’re seeing in this official teaser, we’re just going to see Colin Farrell running around in a fat suit that is problematic in itself, while recounting his woes at how he is remembered. It’s boring. If anything, they should have gone back and shown how he became this villain, how he ended up in this position in Gotham, and how people came to fear him. Because Farrell’s The Penguin was not interesting enough to remain on my mind after his appearance in The Batman. In fact, all I remember about him was him having a mediocre understanding of Spanish. That’s it. But for some reason he gets a whole show? Make it, make sense.
Then there’s the whole fat suit of it all. I know I mentioned it earlier but it always bothered me in The Batman. And before you say “it’s acting, get over it” just give me a second to explain. If it’s just acting, then why don’t they hire plus-size actors? Because from where I’m standing, plus-size people don’t make it in Hollywood in the same vein as skinny and fit people do. And when they do need a plus-size person for a lead role, Hollywood would rather have that fit person gain a lot of weight in an unhealthy manner instead of opening a doorway for actors with different bodies to enter the Hollywood space. So Hollywood just gets lazy. Instead of searching for new talent who know how to live in a plus-size body and the intricacies that come with that, they slap on a fat suit and call it a day.
No tea, no shade towards the makeup department and costume design when it comes to how Farrell looks in The Penguin. He’s unrecognizable under the work that they have done. But all this does is close even more doors in Hollywood and keeps us with the same boring actors over and over. I want to see new breakout stars and different people making it big. I’m tired of the same 10 actors who will do anything for a paycheck. It’s giving stagnant water where Hollywood would rather do what’s easy than taking a chance. And honestly, the world of Matt Reeves would have done better if they did a live-action series about Catwoman before going full steam ahead for The Penguin of all the Batman characters.
Watch the teaser trailer below:
The Penguin lands on Max this Fall.