The Penguin Star Reveals the Surprising Batman Movie They Were ‘Obsessed’ With

The Penguin star Cristin Milioti has heaped praise on one of the most critically maligned movies in the long-running Batman franchise. Speaking recently with film critic Rad Simonpillai, Milioti, who joins the world of DC as gangster and serial killer Sofia Falcone, goes to bat for one of the more…controversial installments in the series, 1995’s Batman Forever, revealing that she was once “obsessed” with the campy Joel Schumacher sequel.

“Batman Forever hit when I was maybe 10. The [Tim Burton movies] were deeply seminal… but I was obsessed with Batman Forever. I think I found it thrilling and exciting, and it was cartoony. It’s larger-than-life and neon. Everyone’s going for broke. Jim Carrey’s Riddler is going for it. I know it’s not one of the more celebrated ones – and I totally get it – but, for like a 10-year-old, I was so into it.”

Directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Val Kilmer as Bruce Wayne/Batman alongside Tommy Lee Jones as Harvey Dent/Two-Face, Jim Carrey as Edward Nygma/The Riddler, Nicole Kidman as Dr. Chase Meridian, and Chris O’Donnell as Dick Grayson/Robin, the sequel follows Batman as he attempts to thwart the combined villainous efforts of Two-Face and The Riddler while protecting his secret identity and taking on a protégé.

While Batman Forever is not the least-liked movie in the Batman saga (that dishonor falls to the 1997 follow-up Batman & Robin), Batman Forever was heavily criticized at the time for shifting away from the dark gothic tone of the Tim Burton movies. However, while “dark and gritty” has now become synonymous with The Dark Knight, the “cartoony” vibe clearly hit home with Milioti and others, with Batman Forever having since garnered a cult following and even an online campaign calling for the release of the “Schumacher Cut.”

Joining the DC Universe Has Been a Long-Held Lifelong Dream for Cristin Milioti

While Cristin Milioti may have once found herself enamored with the campy and cartoony action of Batman Forever, dark and gritty is the order of the day when it comes to the latest DC outing, The Penguin. A huge Batman fan, Milioti revealed to Collider that finally joining the DC universe has fulfilled a “lifelong dream.”

“But I’ve gotta say, I had the time of my life. I was a huge Batman fan. I’ve seen every single Batman film. I made my dad take me to see Batman Forever six different times. I was Catwoman for Halloween. I was obsessed with Batman. It has been a lifelong dream, to not only play a character like this, but to play a character like this in that world. So, sure, there were days that were intense, but I had the time of my life. It was truly such a pinch-me job. Even when I was getting slammed into walls, was in chains, and was getting the living daylights beaten out of me, I just had the best time. I really did. I had a freaking ball.”

Academy Award nominee Colin Farrell reprises the role of Oz Cobb in The Penguin, which acts as a spinoff sequel to director Matt Reeves’ critically acclaimed 2022 DC outing, The Batman. Picking up just one week after the events of the Robert Pattinson-led movie, The Penguin will explore the DC supervillain’s rise to power as he goes from lowly crook to criminal overlord in Gotham City. Alongside Farrell in the lead role, The Penguin stars Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone, the daughter of Carmine Falcone; Clancy Brown as Salvatore Maroni, a fellow mob boss and gangster; Michael Zegen as Alberto Falcone, the son of Carmine Falcone; and Rhenzy Feliz as Victor Aguilar, Cobblepot’s driver. The rest of the cast includes Michael Kelly, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Deirdre O’Connell, James Madio, Scott Cohen, Theo Rossi, Carmen Ejogo, François Chau, David H. Holmes, and Mark Strong.