Colin Farrell’s The Penguin Spin-Off series will have eight episodes

Colin Farrell said his spin-off series Penguin will run for eight episodes. On a podcast with Variety, the Oscar-nominated actor dropped key details about the BatVerse series, revealing that the timeline is set about a week after Matt Reeves’ The Batman movie wrapped. Filming will begin soon with Mare of Easttown’s Craig Zobel attached to direct. The news comes following DC Studios’ announcement of the release date for The Batman: Part II, which is slated for release on October 3, 2025. It’s also worth noting that The Penguin the series was billed as an HBO Max production, so it might not fall on Disney+ Hotstar – as seen with Peacemakerwhich was released on Amazon Prime Video, seven months after the original airing in the United States.

“It’s going to be an eight-part thing around Oz’s rise to power, filling that power vacuum created when Falcone was killed. Matt’s idea was to have the Penguin show start about a week after The Batman movie was finished,” Farrell told Variety. “And if it works, if the trajectory is interesting, and the audience goes for it, and we do our job well, Penguin’s second feature will pick up where the HBO show left off.” Farrell’s comments echo Reeves’ comments from last month, which claimed the series would be “closely tied” to the arc of the movies, eventually leading up to The Batman sequel. In an interview last year, the actor confirmed the series will be six to eight hours long – typical fashion for an HBO show.

Farrell will reprise his role as crime boss Oswald Cobblepot, with the series charting his rise to the top following the death of Carmine Falcone (John Turturro) in The Batman. Meanwhile, Cristin Milioti (Palm Springs) is attached to play the latter’s daughter, Sophia Falcone, first introduced in the acclaimed noir graphic novel, Batman: The Long Halloween. Given that the show takes place just a week after the events of the film, Gotham City is still somewhat underwater. “I read the first script of the first episode and it opens with my feet splashing in water from Falcone’s office. Even that alone, when I read it, I was like, “Oh, Jesus!” Farrell told Variety last year.

Reeves, who will serve as executive producer The Penguin series, also seeks to expand its grounded universe by further exploring the Dark Knight’s rogues gallery. Previous reports suggested the director was looking to tell spin-off stories from characters like Scarecrow, Clayface, and Professor Pyg. Meanwhile, The Batman: Part II will continue to focus on Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne, unlike other iterations where villains take center stage in follow-ups. Reeves also has an Arkham series in the works. The show was originally set to take place within the GCPD (Gotham City Police Department), but shifted gears to focus on the island’s isolated asylum, Reeves revealed last year.

Earlier this week, DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn revealed part of his 8-10 year plan for the new DC Universe, where he confirmed that Reeves’ Batman universe will operate separately from the main arc and that it will be strictly labelled. as “DC Elseworlds”. The same rule applies to Todd Phillips’ Joker sequel and Teen Titans GO! Additionally, the DCU will introduce a new Batman, alongside his biological son Damian Wayne as Robin. The movie is called The Brave and the Bold and is based on writer Grant Morrison’s comic book which sees Bruce take on the parental duties.

Currently there is no release window for HBO Max’s The Penguin.