The Batman star Colin Farrell has suggested that his Penguin TV show could comprise eight episodes.
Speaking exclusively to TechRadar ahead of The Batman's release, Farrell teased that the upcoming TV series may contain as many episodes as Peacemaker, HBO Max's hit Suicide Squad spin-off that starred John Cena.
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With the Penguin TV show still in early development, there's little in the way of concrete details surrounding the series, other than it'll explore the origins of the Penguin, whose real name is Oswald Cobblepot. But, when we asked Farrell what excited him most about the forthcoming show, the In Bruges star appeared to confirm that The Batman spin-off's runtime would be similar to that of Peacemaker's.
"[I'm excited about] getting more into the character and just, as you say, maybe getting more into his origin and the Oswald that we that we meet in the film," Farrell said. "And also the Oswald that we're going to get the chance to present over the six or eight hours that it'll be. So yeah, just get it, you get an opportunity to delve into it."
Farrell has previously gone on record to reveal he's only in The Batman for "five to six scenes" (per the Happy Sad Confused podcast) – something he reconfirmed with TechRadar during our chat. Digging into Oswald/the Penguin's backstory, then, is of particular interest for the award-winning Seven Psychopaths actor, with Farrell keen to explore the character's persona, motivations, and rise through Gotham City's criminal underworld.
"I only have six or seven scenes in the film, so Oswald is still kind of an unknown certainty to me as well," Farrell added. "So I've become very excited by the prospect of getting to learn what the parameters are, if indeed there are any for the character.
"I mean, he's got a lovely kind of sense of humour. He's kind of funny, but he's kind of not, but he thinks he is. He's definitely dangerous and has a kind of a certain psychopath to him. But he's also a little bit broken inside, as many of us are, so it'll be fun to explore all those aspects."
No other casting announcements have been made for the Penguin TV spin-off. However, Lauren LeFranc (Agents of SHIELD, Chuck) is reportedly attached to write the scripts for the show, while Farrell, The Batman director Matt Reeves, and The Batman producer Dylan Clark are on board as executive producers (per Variety).
The Penguin TV show won't be the only spin-off series from the Dark Knight's latest movie adventure. A Gotham City Police Department show is also in the works, with Joe Barton (Girl/Haji) and Reeves attached.
The Batman is set to arrive exclusively in theaters on Friday, March 4 - and, in our spoiler-free review, we called it a "stunningly meticulous and tension-filled DCEU movie that doesn't lose sight of the iconic vigilante's comic book roots". For more Batman content, check out our rankings of every Caped Crusader movie so far. Alternatively, read what other critics thought of his latest film adaptation.
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