New trailer for The Penguin TV show teases a Batman crime epic to rival The Sopranos – and a September release window in the US and UK

Oswald Cobblepot stands on a balcony and looks over his shoulder in The Penguin TV series
Colin Farrell's Oswald Cobblepot is getting a standalone series, which is set one week after The Batman. (Image credit: Macall Polay/Max)

Update: responding to TechRadar's request for comment, a Sky representative confirmed that The Penguin would debut on Sky and Now TV (in the UK) in September, too.

"We are able to confirm that The Penguin will TX [be transmitted] in September," our Sky contact said. But TBC [to be confirmed] on the exact date [that it'll launch]."

Original story follows.

Full spoilers follow for The Batman.

The official trailer for The Penguin has been revealed – and it looks like The Batman's first TV spin-off is going all out to deliver a comic book-inspired version of The Sopranos.

The highly anticipated Max TV show's latest footage, which you can view below, teases more of the civil war that'll erupt in Gotham City's criminal underworld following – spoiler – the death of Carmine Falcone in the first Robert Pattinson-starring Batman film. Indeed, the emerging turf war will see Colin Farrell's Oz Cobb, aka the Penguin, going up against Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti), Carmine Falcone's daughter and heir to her father's criminal empire.

The Penguin | Official Teaser 2 | Max - YouTube The Penguin | Official Teaser 2 | Max - YouTube
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The crime thriller show's latest teaser isn't the only thing that was announced by Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). Revealed in a press release and in the show's first poster on X/Twitter, The Penguin is set to debut on Max, aka one of the world's best streaming services, this September. The confirmed release window comes just one week after HBO boss Casey Bloys all-but-confirmed The Penguin would be released on WBD's streaming platform in September.

Unfortunately, there's no news on when or where The Penguin will be available to stream in Australia. I've reached out to my contacts for confirmation on a release window and streaming platform for viewers down under, and I'll update this article if I hear back.

Will Batman be in The Penguin TV series?

Nobody knows. WBD is keeping schtum on The Penguin's plot – indeed, outside of what's shown off in the program's latest footage, the only official information we have is that it'll comprise eight episodes and that it "continues filmmaker Matt Reeves' The Batman epic crime saga that began with Warner Bros. Pictures’ global blockbuster The Batman". 

Speaking to TechRadar in March 2022 ahead of The Batman's launch, however, Farrell told TechRadar that its story will be told over "six to eight hours" of screen time. Teasing what we can expect from Cobb as a character, he added: "I only have six or seven scenes in the film, so Oz is still kind of an unknown certainty to me as well. I've become very excited by the prospect of getting to learn what the parameters are, if indeed there are any for the character. 

"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."

Oswald Cobblepot clasped his hands at a restaurant table in The Penguin TV show on Max

The Penguin will pit Oz against other elements of Gotham's criminal underbelly. (Image credit: Warner Bros. Discovery/Max)

To learn about what we might see in The Penguin from a storytelling perspective, you'll want me to read my article that explains The Batman's ending. Outside of that, though, we'll have to wait for the show to land – or, at the very least, hear more from the series' cast and crew – before we find out anymore plot details.

Speaking of who else is involved: Lauren LeFranc (Agents of SHIELD) acts as The Penguin's showrunner, while Reeves is among its large executive producing team. Farrell and Milioti are joined on the cast roster by plenty of familiar names and newcomers, too: Rhenzy Feliz (who plays Victor Aguilar), Michael Kelly (Johnny Viti), Shohreh Aghdashloo (Nadia Maroni), Deirdre O’Connell (Francis Cobb), Clancy Brown (Salvatore Maroni), James Madio (Milos Grapa), Scott Cohen (Luca Falcone), Michael Zegen (Alberto Falcone), Carmen Ejogo (Eve Karlo), and Theo Rossi (Dr. Julian Rush) will also feature.

The Penguin will make a bullet-filled splash on Max (in the US) in September.

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Senior Entertainment Reporter

As TechRadar's senior entertainment reporter, Tom covers all of the latest movies, TV shows, and streaming service news that you need to know about. You'll regularly find him writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and many other topics of interest.

An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Tom also writes reviews, analytical articles, opinion pieces, and interview-led features on the biggest franchises, actors, directors and other industry leaders. You may see his quotes pop up in the odd official Marvel Studios video, too, such as this Moon Knight TV spot.

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