“I had an amazing time doing it.”
Colin Farrell is a busy man over the next few months, starring in two big series coming our way.
While we’ll first see him in the Apple TV series Sugar, which has us very excited (and you can read our review of here), his big show of the year will be in The Batman spinoff show The Penguin.
Returning as the iconic villain Oswald Cobblepot, Farrell has given us a sneak preview into what he says will be an ‘incredibly violent’ series.
“It was a long and really wonderful experience,” Farrell told MovieZine about filming the eight-episode series.
“It’s dark; that’s what I can tell you about it. It’s really dark. It’s really heavy, I think – it certainly was doing it. Which is not to say I didn’t have fun, I had an amazing time doing it.”
He added, “It’s incredibly violent. It’s one man’s rise to what he’s always dreamed of inhabiting, which is a certain power or social status.
“The death of Carmine Falcone at the end of [The Batman] the film, leaves this vacuum in Gotham to be filled and so there are various people that are grabbing for that power and this is Oswald’s journey trying to rise to the top through extraordinary obstacles.”
Colin Farrell speaks out on ‘incredibly violent’ and ‘really heavy’ new series
HBO released a new trailer for the upcoming series this week, and it certainly looks dark – both in the visual and metaphorical sense.
Set immediately after the events of Matt Reeves’ The Batman, Gotham recovering from the flood, with a huge black hole in the criminal underworld where Carmine Falcone once stood.
The Penguin, of course, sees an opportunity to climb to the top of the criminal ladder in Falcone’s absense and become Gotham’s most feared villain.
Joining Farrell in the main cast is Cristin Milioti as Carmine Falcone’s daughter Sofia, Michael Zegen as Carmine’s son Alberto and Clancy Brown as Salvatore Maroni, one of Gotham’s former top gangsters.
Colin Farrell on 'The Penguin'.
— The Art of The Batman (@thebatfilm) March 24, 2024
"It's dark – that's what I can tell you about it – it's really dark and really heavy… It's incredibly violent. It's one man's rise to what he's always dreamed of inhabiting, which is a certain power or social status." pic.twitter.com/eTsYCE3bkR
Farrell’s version of Cobblepot is a far cry from the comical oddballs of the past – a ruthless mob boss with a taste for blood. The Irish actor’s comments on the tone of the upcoming HBO show will certainly appease fans of the franchise looking for a little more grit in their villains.
In the trailer, the Penguin can be heard saying: “When I was a kid, there was a gangster, real old-school type – Rex Calabrese; he was a big deal. He helped people. He saw you on the street, he’d call out to you.
“When I’m 14, he has a heart attack and dies still holdin’ a cigar,” he continues.
“In my neighborhood, they throw a parade in his honor. A friggin’ parade. And it wasn’t fancy, but it was the gesture. The show of love, of what he meant. Can you imagine to be remembered like that?”
From the monologue, it’s clear to see Cobblepot has a big legacy in mind that we can’t wait to see play out on screen.
The Penguin premieres on Max this autumn.
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