Oz Cobb could be waddling around Gotham for a few more seasons as Dylan Clark, a producer on The Penguin, confirms that the team behind the new series want the show to last for more than a single season. Starring Collin Farrell as the titular Penguin, the new HBO series continues the character’s story from his debut in Matt Reeves’ The Batman. Without the Caped Crusader on his back, Oz Cobb wrestles to seize power from Gotham’s most powerful crime families after the death of Carmine Falcone in The Batman. Speaking to Collider, Dylan Clark revealed that Oz Cobb’s story could potentially stretch much further than the new season of The Penguin.
“There’s absolutely more story inside of Oz and other characters in this world,” Clark said.
His comment about other characters has left fans wondering if Warner Bros. and HBO are planning more spin-offs, dependent on the success of The Penguin. A Gotham City Police Department and Arkham Asylum series were originally in the works, but both have recently been canceled by HBO.
Clark re-iterated Matt Reeves’ previous statement about The Penguin appearing in the upcoming sequelThe Batman Part II, and hopes that fans will see Cobb again following that movie. Clark said:
“Matt [Reeves] spoke at Comic-Con about how he’s such a great character that Oz has to be in the sequel, and he will be in some fashion… If we get lucky and continue to do another season of The Penguin, I think there are ideas.”
Could More The Batman Spin-Offs Be on the Horizon?
Dylan Clark’s comment about more characters deserving spin-offs may feel surprising following the cancelation of the Arkham Asylum and GCPD shows. However, both series were scrapped by HBO as the network wants to focus on the marquee characters in the Batman mythos. Reeves also recently confirmed that future installments in his The Batman world won’t feature any of DC Comics’ more wacky, supernatural villains.Characters like Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, and Clayface are all out of contention. Although, there’s still hope for Kite Man (Hell yeah!).
Clark followed up his statement by saying that the creative team behind The Batman and The Penguin may already have some characters they want to focus on with standalone series. He said:
“There are also other characters that deserve and want the development and the detailed experience and character journeys that you can only do in long form, and HBO is such a great place to do that.”
Just as Oz Cobb appeared as a secondary villain in The Batman, before being given his own series, there is the chance that the same pattern could be followed with The Batman Part II. The movie’s main villain has yet to be confirmed, but fans suspect it could be The Court of Owls. Marry Keoghan’s Joker is confirmed to make an appearance in the movie, as is Farrell’s Penguin. Whatever character is given the spin-off treatment, Clark assures audiences that it will be given the same dark, prestige treatment that is afforded under the HBO label, saying:
“This is a very edgy, R-rated space that you can do on HBO. It’s just wildly creatively freeing, but it’s also humbling because you wanna get it right.”
The Penguin
premieres on HBO and Max on September 19, 2024. New episodes will be released weekly.