Matt Reeves’s The Batman is coming into focus more and more and one thing is becoming abundantly clear: Warner Bros needs a Penguin.
Deadline is reporting that Reeves and WB are on the hunt for the final major villain to fill out its trifecta of baddies to go against Robert Pattinson’s Batman. They already have their Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz) and their Riddler (Paul Dano) but with Jonah Hill exiting negotiations to co-star, the film doesn’t have anyone lined up to play Oswald Cobblepot, a.k.a. The Penguin. Apparently Reeves wanted Hill for the role but the Superbad star preferred to play The Riddler and walked away from the project in the end. So Reeves is eyeing certain performers to play Penguin but we don’t know who he is looking at. There is sure to be much rumor and speculation until an official announcement is made. There are a lot of great performers who can take on the part but based on Reeves’s interest in Hill we can safely assume he is wanting a younger performer who could be a bit…portly, to put it kindly. It doesn’t look like we will be getting a Penguin much older than Pattinson so anyone hoping that Michael Stuhlbarg could land the part will probably walk away disappointed. That’s a damn shame because that’s some genius casting and I want to take credit for it right now.
Reeves has set the bar pretty high in regards to his casting choices. His picks of Pattinson, Jeffrey Wright, Kravtiz and Dano have all been incredibly inspired so we can assume he will only settle for the best-of-the-best for The Penguin. That’s doubly important because I feel that many people don’t really understand the character of The Penguin. Many picture him as something of a bumbling, silly-looking little fat man with an umbrella. But Penguin is a criminal mastermind, a gangster’s gangster who might not be the most intimidating foe physically but can challenge Batman in terms of wit and sheer ruthlessness. He’s the sort of villain who plans Batman’s demise in backrooms filled with cigar smoke, he’s much more like Al Capone than people think. I really hope Reeves understands that and gives us a Penguin who could unleash all of Gotham’s underworld on the dark knight.
So start your fan-casting until we hear anything official from WB or Reeves. The Penguin is coming and coming soon, we just don’t know who will play him.