Almost a year has passed since audiences were first exposed to HBO’s The Penguin, and to call it a success would be an understatement. The show didn’t just find fans among critics and audiences alike; everyone involved has been swimming in awards ever since, with its recent 24 Emmy nominations being the latest. And yet, before its release, many were skeptical of the show. Why would we want to see this story? And did it make sense to do a Batman villain story without Batman himself?
To that last point, showrunner Lauren LeFranc and producer Matt Reeves were cautious, too. In a new interview, LeFranc reveals she and Reeves discussed the potential of bringing Batman, played by Robert Pattinson, on the show. “Matt and I talked about it a lot,” LeFranc told the Hollywood Reporter. “It just didn’t feel necessary. It felt like we’d be wrenching him in just to say we had the Batman in our show, when in reality, I feel like my goal at least was always to create rich enough, compelling characters that you weren’t desperate to see him, which I know is a tall order because so many people love Batman, and Rob Pattinson is so good as Batman. But, yes, we were doing something a little different. We’re through the lens of Oz. We’re on the streets. There’s a gang war happening. We always would say, ‘Batman’s up high looking down on Gotham, and Oz is in the muck, wanting to get up there and to achieve a level of power.’ So, yes, we talked about it, but honestly, we just didn’t want to interfere with the story that we had.”
Of course, that is until the final shot of the season when Oz, having successfully taken over the underworld of Gotham, sees the Bat-symbol in the sky. Batman is still out there, and LeFranc admits the show was also always a direct bridge to The Batman Part II.
“The intention of our first season always was, we’re launching Oz into the second film,” she said. “And so we couldn’t air a second season until after Matt’s movie comes out.”
But don’t get too excited by that quote. LeFranc also says, “There’s no current status update” on the second season, and if it ever were to happen, it would have to be after Part II and something truly spectacular on its own. “We have to feel confident we can top ourselves, and that’s something that’s really important to Colin Farrell and me, especially,” she said. “Otherwise, we don’t want to do something again if it’s not going to be excellent. We were always meant to be a limited series. So, pivoting to a second season is just different—it’s not something we ever really talked about.”
Basically, it was more likely that Robert Pattinson’s Batman would appear on the show than that a second season might happen. At least they talked about Batman. You’ll next see Farrell, and potentially more characters from the show, when The Batman Part II hits theaters in October 2027.
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