John Turturro rejected a return for The Penguin after his role in The Batman, with his reasoning showing a misunderstanding for this section of DC Universe. Turturro played the character of Carmine Falcone in The Batman before Mark Strong was hired as his replacement in The Penguin's ensemble cast. Although Falcone was killed by Paul Dano's The Riddler in The Batman's ending, The Penguin includes flashbacks to before the events of the former, when the Gotham City gangster was at the height of his power.
These flashbacks link inherently to The Penguin's Sofia Falcone/Gigante. The crimes of Carmine's past are integral to Sofia’s story as she reckons with what her father did to her; Carmine was revealed as the killer of several women during his reign of crime, pinning each of the murders on Sofia and sentencing her to Arkham Asylum, resulting in a harrowing journey that saw her become the powerful crime boss shown in The Penguin episode 6's ending. However, it is these elements that saw Turtorro reject a return in The Penguin, showing an inherent misunderstanding of the DC Universe.
Turturro Has His Reasons For Not Coming Back As Carmine Falcone
When addressing his reasons for not returning in The Penguin, Turturro outlined other aspects than the initially-reported scheduling conflicts that saw Mark Strong cast in the role. While it remains true that Turturro had other commitments that meant he could not feasibly return for the DC TV show, the actor has recently spoken to Variety about other elements of The Penguin's story. When quizzed on the recasting of Carmine, Turturro had this to say: “I did what I wanted to with the role. In the show, there was a lot of violence towards women, and that’s not my thing.”
As evident by Turturro's comments, the actor simply felt that there was little left for him to explore in the role beyond what was already shown in The Batman. This leads to the actor's next point, that he felt The Penguin included too much violence against women. Of course, Turturro has the right to turn down any role for whatever reason. That said, it may be the case that these comments from Turturro show a misunderstanding towards one of the key elements of The Penguin, The Batman, and, by extension, this entire section of the DC Universe.
The Batman Already Established Carmine Falcone As Violent Toward Women
Carmine Has Always Had A Dark Streak
The primary reason behind this aforementioned misunderstanding is that The Batman already highlighted Carmine Falcone as a very violent man, specifically towards women. Turturro does comment that a lot of Carmine's violence towards female characters happens off-screen, but The Penguin is no different. In fact, The Penguin is arguably more tame regarding explicit showcases of violence committed by Carmine. In The Batman, Falcone is shown attempting to strangle Zoë Kravitz's Catwoman to death before Batman saves her.
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Thus far in The Penguin, Carmine's violent tendencies have only been implied. It is revealed that Carmine killed seven women before the events of The Batman, including his wife. However, none of these murders are shown, like Carmine's attempt to kill Catwoman in the movie. Therefore, Turturro's comments begin to somewhat lose credence. This links to showrunner Lauren LeFranc's comments about Turturro's comments, with the former reinforcing that The Batman already showed how violent Carmine can be towards women via The Wrap:
“Carmine in the movie killed Selina Kyle’s mother and then does try to actively kill Selina, and also kills Annika – Selina’s friend. I think it’s been established, and Matt [Reeves] and I are in agreement on this, that Carmine’s a very violent man and has a violent streak against women.”
As LeFranc points out, one of the core components of Carmine's character in both The Batman and The Penguin is his violence. In both projects, Carmine's crimes against women are implied. The only difference is that The Batman actively shows Carmine attempting to carry out another murder, something that The Penguin has left absent as of episode 6's ending. For these reasons, it seems that Turturro's comments about not returning for The Penguin are misguided, and miss the point of the show's overall themes.
The Penguin Doesn't Glorify The Violence It Portrays
Carmine's Actions Are Never Condoned
The core component of The Penguin, and the DC Universe as a whole, that Turturro's perspective misunderstands is that the violence against women is never glorified. Carmine Falcone is clearly outlined as one of the biggest villains in The Batman's universe, and one of the most reprehensible characters across both projects. There has always been a clear difference in The Batman and The Penguin between simply portraying violence and glorifying it. In both projects, the level of violence that Carmine - or anyone else - possesses has been condemned.
Turturro insisting that this aspect of the show is not for him implies the glorification of such moments is part of
The Penguin
when the opposite could not be more true...
This is evident in the scene during which Carmine attempts to kill Catwoman. The latter then tries to kill the former, with Batman stopping her as if she goes through with it, she will be just as bad as Carmine is. The Penguin is similar, with the show presenting Sofia as a sympathetic antagonist. Sofia's story makes it clear that Carmine's needless violence against women was undeniably wrong; Turturro insisting that this aspect of the show is not for him implies the glorification of such moments is part of The Penguin when the opposite could not be more true.
Sofia Falcone's Story Includes Violence But Is About Empowerment
Sofia's VIolence Is Evident, But It Is In The Name Of Female Empowerment
As alluded to, it is the story of Sofia Falcone that proves above all else that The Penguin does not gratify violence. Yes, Sofia Falcone's story has included a lot of violence and death, even sometimes caused by her own hands. However, the show never crosses that line of making these acts seem earned or understandable, but simply a product of Sofia's incredibly difficult life. Sofia and Oz are equally deplorable people, yet both have sympathetic aspects. The former's sympathetic elements stem from outright opposing Carmine's violence against women, leading to her own empowerment in spite of his crimes.
Victor killing Squid in The Penguin episode 6 and his traumatized, disgusted reaction to the act also shows how violence is not something to be proud of.
It was Sofia's consideration of outing Carmine's crimes against women to a reporter that set her down her path. This was driven by the reveal that Carmine killed her mother, resulting in Sofia being sent to Arkham as another victim of her father's evil. Sofia's journey after this point has been about reclaiming - or, more accurately, forging - her own identity, and erasing Carmine Falcone's legacy for good. This does not sound like a story that glorifies Carmine's actions, proving that Turturro's reasons for not reprising his role in The Penguin are inherently misguided.
Created by Lauren LeFranc, The Penguin is a crime-drama spin-off television series of 2022's film The Batman. Set shortly after the events of The Batman, Oz Cobb, A.K.A. the Penguin, begins his rise in the underworld of Gotham City as he contends with the daughter of his late boss, Carmine Falcone, for control of the crime family's empire.
CastColin Farrell , Cristin Milioti , Rhenzy Feliz , Michael Kelly , Shohreh Aghdashloo , Deirdre O'Connell , Clancy Brown , James Madio , Scott Cohen , Michael Zegen , Carmen Ejogo , Theo Rossi
Custom Image by Lewis Glazebrook
English (US) ·