Colin Farrell Has One Condition To Return For The Penguin Season 2

This post contains major spoilers for "The Penguin."

In many ways, DC is beating Marvel at its own game with "The Penguin." The latter has been trying to extend its shared superhero universe across Disney+ TV series, thereby bolstering the streaming platform and increasing the Marvel Cinematic Universe's reach. But thus far, owing to some downright terrible streaming offerings, that project has failed to fulfill its objective — even as shows like "Loki" prove popular. DC, meanwhile, might finally be able to claim to have outdone its longtime rival, delivering an eight-episode crime thriller that actually stands as a quality streaming series in its own right.

"The Penguin" effortlessly connects Matt Reeves' "The Batman" with the upcoming "The Batman: Part II" while also having a point of view to articulate — which is more than can be said for something like Marvel's "Secret Invasion" and its many flaws. By the end of "The Penguin" any admiration we might have had for Oz Cobb is completely eradicated after he strangles his young protégé Victor Aguilar (Rhenzy Feliz) to death, thereby completing his arc from ambitious underdog to fully fledged evil villain. In reality, that arc was never really an arc in the traditional sense. Much like Walter White in "Breaking Bad," Oz was always the man he revealed himself to be by the end of the series. Nonetheless, his apparent transformation in "The Penguin" feels like one long rebuke of our collective proclivity to root for truly heinous figures. The aforementioned Walter White is one example, but Tony Soprano and myriad mob figures from film history are more appropriate references.

So, you have a show that is not only popular but actually feels like it has something to say, and which successfully sets up the next big installment in Matt Reeves' Batman Epic Crime Saga (as it is, lamentably, named). As such, the inevitable calls for a second season will soon abound, and it seems star Colin Farrell has one specific condition to return as the odious Oz Cobb.

While Oz Cobb was a significant part of 2022's "The Batman," Paul Dano's Riddler was the main villain, meaning Colin Farrell's scenes were relatively few. But for the villain's streaming series, the Irish star had to don the extensive makeup every day, which meant that when "The Penguin" first debuted, things didn't look all that positive in terms of getting Farrell back in the makeup chair for a second go round. Farrell hated his Penguin costume more than you could possibly imagine, with the actor telling Total Film, "When I finished I was like, 'I never want to put that f***ing suit and that f***ing head on again.'"

Thankfully, following the success of the show, it seems the actor has softened on the idea somewhat. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about the prospect of a second season of "The Penguin," Farrell said, "If there's a great idea [for season 2], and the writing was really muscular and as strong or stronger on the page than it was the first season, of course I would do it."

In order to see Oz return as the star of his own series, then, showrunner Lauren LeFranc and Matt Reeves will have to ensure they have an idea good enough to actually justify another slog through Gotham's gutters with The Penguin. What's more, it seems the fan response to "The Penguin" has been the real key to piquing Farrell's interest in a potential season 2, with the actor adding:

"For me, the bar for success is not very high. It's, 'Do most people like it?' — just the simplicity of that. I love being in things that are critically approved — it's much better than the alternative — but I've been around long enough [to know] that it's the audience who are really the most important critics."

But what about that lingering question of whether Farrell would sit for hours in the makeup chair again?

Asked about his apparent disdain for the Oz Cobb makeup routine, Colin Farrell told THR that his previous comment was taken "out of its energetic context," adding:

"I was b***hing to anyone who'd listen to me. It's the way I speak sometimes — 'I can't wait to finish this' — that kind of thing. I get anxious right now just thinking about sitting in the chair for hours. But I always loved the material, and it was never lost on me the privilege I felt to inhabit a character that's lived so long in comic book form originally and then through various iterations on TV and in film."

Regardless, everything really hinges on the success of "The Batman: Part II." This is the next installment in the overall Batman Epic Crime Saga story, and its performance will surely dictate whether we do, in fact, see a second season of "The Penguin." Beyond that consideration, there is the sense that season 1 of the show served a very clear purpose, taking Oz Cobb from ambitious mob foot soldier to Gotham's crime kingpin and very much establishing him as the villain with which Batman fans are so familiar. With that in mind, it seems far more likely that Matt Reeves and his team will be looking to give other villains the premium drama treatment and try to imitate the success they had with Farrell's foe — not to mention the fact that Reeves has previously spoken about other series set in his Gotham, which might take precedence moving forward.

Still, there's no doubt that Farrell himself is effortlessly charismatic as Oz Cobb, so much so that HBO and Reeves might very well want to double down on his appeal for another go round. For now, we'll have to wait to see how "The Batman: Part II" — which was perfectly set up by "The Penguin" — performs to get a real sense of what to expect next.