DC Just Gave The Penguin His Own Twisted Batman Origin

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The Penguin is the first live-action DC project to give Oswald Cobblepot's brothers an important role in his origin. The 1960s Batman series didn't explore the Penguin's childhood, Gotham's flashbacks to Oz's childhood focused solely on the Penguin's close relationship with his mother, and Batman Returns reveals that Oz's parents abandoned him as a baby. Now, not only does The Penguin include Oz's brothers prominently for the first time, but it also adapts their deaths from the source material.

How The Penguin Changes Oz's DC Origin

Oz Cobb Has Different Motivations To Kill His Brothers In The Penguin

In the comics, a young Oswald Cobblepot is relentlessly bullied throughout his childhood due to his physical appearance. Oz's brothers are part of the problem, as they constantly mock him and embarrass him. When they attack Oz's pet birds, Oz decides to kill them. As Penguin: Pain and Prejudice reveals, Oz poisons Jason, crashes his car into William, and throws Robert into a frozen lake. Oz then continues to let his frustrations out through violence and eventually comes to terms with his physical appearance, embracing it in order to become the Gotham villain, "the Penguin".

Oz simply snaps when his brothers try to venture into Gotham's sewers knowing that Oz can't keep up with them

The Penguin changes Oz's motivations to kill his brothers. Instead of killing his brothers in revenge for years of bullying, Oz simply snaps when his brothers try to venture into Gotham's sewers knowing that Oz can't keep up with them due to the limp in his leg. Oz also takes a less directly violent but perhaps more cruel approach to the murders. Instead of attacking them, Oz locks his brothers in the sewer during a storm, drowning them. In the series' Elseworlds universe, The Penguin's Oz Cobb only has two brothers: Jack and Benny.

Oz's Origin Story Is A Dark Mirror To Batman's

The Penguin Flips Bruce Wayne's Childhood Tragedy In Batman's Absence

Robert Pattinson's Bruce Wayne dresses up as Batman and Colin Farrell's Oswald Cobblepot sits in The Penguin

The Penguin shows how Oz Cobb's origin story is similar to Bruce Wayne's. Both Oz and Bruce's lives were split in two during their childhood after the death of two of their close relatives, marking the beginning of their transformation into a criminal and a vigilante, respectively. Their family's deaths served as motivation for them to prove their worth and removed genuine relationships that could have prevented them from reaching their darkest desires.

Oz Cobb in The Penguin and Loki at the end of Loki season 2

The Penguin Finally Broke A Villain Trend That's Plagued Superhero Releases For Years

HBO's The Penguin series has managed to break a long-running trend that has been featured In several recent villain-centric superhero projects.

Whereas Batman witnessed the deaths of his parents, the Penguin consciously decided to murder his brothers. Bruce Wayne found inspiration in his parents' deaths, as they taught him that fighting crime could prevent similar tragedies. Oz Cobb, meanwhile, misinterpreted his mother's need for protection as a call for his exclusive company, which slowly transformed into a thirst for control and power. Bruce also began a crusade for vengeance disguised as justice, whereas Oz turned to a life of crime after taking a liking to murder. Years after their respective turning points, The Batman and The Penguin show how far both of them have come — in completely opposite directions.

Showrunner Lauren LeFranc

Directors Craig Zobel

Cast Colin Farrell , Cristin Milioti , Rhenzy Feliz , Michael Kelly , Shohreh Aghdashloo , Deirdre O'Connell , Clancy Brown , James Madio , Scott Cohen , Michael Zegen , Carmen Ejogo , Theo Rossi

Release Date September 19, 2024