“The Penguin” is finally here.
The new original series, which will debut on HBO Thursday before moving to the prime Sunday night slot on Sept. 29, stars Colin Farrell as the titular character, a low-level crime figure named Oswald Cobb who is looking to make a name for himself in Gotham City. (His nickname comes from the way he walks, with a hitch in his step, and for running a sub-zero-themed nightclub.) Can he successfully pit two crime families against one another, while also steering clear of Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti), who shares his grand dreams of conquering the city’s underworld?
Perhaps a bigger question remains, as well, which is when, exactly, does “The Penguin” take place? And how does it fit into director Matt Reeves’ larger Batman Epic Crime Saga?
Read on to find out, but be warned there are minor spoilers ahead.
When does “The Penguin” take place?
One week after the events of “The Batman.”
What is so special about the events of “The Batman?”
Well, a few things, really – one, Batman (played by Robert Pattinson) was outed as a real, actual human being who resides in Gotham and takes on crime. Secondly, a Gotham mayoral election was held, with an idealistic young candidate named Bella Reál (Jayme Lawson) ultimately winning. And then there was the terrorist attack engineered by the Riddler (Paul Dano), which destroyed much of the seawall surrounding Gotham. (There was also a coordinated assassination attempt by the Riddler’s minions to murder Reál.) “The Batman” director (and “The Penguin” executive producer) Matt Reeves has said that “The Batman” was less an origin story for the superhero and more an origin story for his rogue’s gallery. And here we are.
Are these events explicitly referenced?
They are! There’s also a really amazing, terrifying episode where you see one of the supporting characters go through the terrible day of the Riddler’s attacks. That’s all we’ll say for now, but it is intense.
Anything else we should know about those fateful events, exactly one week before “The Penguin” takes place?
The only other thing you really have to remember is Carmine Falcone (played in the movie by John Turturro and the show by Mark Strong) was assassinated in that calamitous week. Sofia is his daughter. But he also has another daughter we’ve already met – Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz) aka Catwoman.
Why is establishing the time frame so important?
Beyond watching the criminal power vacuum unfold (and the Penguin grasp for power), it’s also important because you’re watching a city try to reshape itself in the shadow of tragedy. And you see a lot of that in the series – the failures in infrastructure, the power grid struggling to keep up with the demands, how a powerful underworld (both literal and figurative) can spring up when the important people are looking in the other direction. The ramifications ripple throughout all of “The Penguin.”
“The Penguin” arrives on HBO on Thursday, Sept. 19.
