MOVIE NEWS – Colin Farrell’s The Penguin series forms a “bridge” between the Batman films, says the showrunner.

The Penguin will be an essential part of the larger story that Matt Reeves tells with The Batman and its upcoming sequel. The title character of the series is Colin Farrell, who reprises his role as Oswald ‘Oz’ Cobblepott, aka The Penguin, who debuted in The Batman (2022). In that movie, Penguin was the owner of the Iceberg Lounge and an enforcer for Gotham crime boss Carmine Falcone. In the upcoming HBO series, we will see how he climbs the ranks of the Gotham underworld to become one of Batman’s greatest adversaries.

Ahead of San Diego Comic-Con, where a panel discussion about The Penguin will be held in Hall H on Saturday, July 27, Entertainment Weekly gave fans a sneak peek at the upcoming series. Series head writer and showrunner Lauren LeFranc revealed that the story will pick up a week after the events of The Batman and lead directly into “The Batman—Part II,” which is currently set to premiere on October 2, 2026. This makes The Penguin a vital part of the larger story that Matt Reeves is telling in Batman, and it will be a must-watch.

“We are the bridge between the two films. We’re going almost directly into the second film Matt has planned.”

The Penguin also indicates that TV and movies are becoming more and more connected

Batman is the latest film franchise to join the expanded TV universe with The Penguin. Paramount+’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series is also set to bridge the gap between the latest film and the upcoming 2026 sequel. The Dune franchise also expands on television with a prequel series, Dune: Prophecy, set to air on HBO later this year.

The MCU has made cross-media stories a major selling point of the multiverse saga. WandaVision is leading up to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is in preparation for the upcoming Captain America: Brave New World. While this opens the door to bigger, more immersive stories, it also risks alienating audiences who feel they can get lost in the movies if they haven’t seen the series.

This was a major factor in Marvel’s failure at the box office. Many people thought they had to make up for series like Ms. Marvel and Secret Invasion in order to enjoy the Captain Marvel sequel.

With The Penguin listed as an important component of “The Batman—Part II,” we wonder if the same fans who have criticized MCU projects for requiring “homework” to enjoy a new film will feel the same way about the next instalment in Batman’s story.

Source: EW