The Penguin might be one of HBO’s biggest hit of the year – but an actor who appeared in The Batman isn’t a fan.
In the crime drama, an unrecognisable Colin Farrell reprises the role of Oz Cobb, which he originally played in Matt Reeves’s 2022 film The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz and Paul Dano.
It’s a new take on the comic book character played by Danny Devito in Tim Burton’s 1992 sequel Batman Returns.
The successful series, which was developed by Lauren LeFranc and produced by Reeves, is set two weeks after the end of The Batman, in which Cobb plays the Falcone and Maroni families off against each other in a power grab following the death of mob leader Carmine Falcone.
Carmine was played by John Turturro in The Batman, and the character shows up in flashback form in The Penguin – however, Turturro has been replaced by Mark Strong,
It was previously unknown why the character was recast, but Turturro has now said he turned down the chance to return in the spin-off series as “there was a lot of violence towards women, and that’s not my thing”.
Turturro told Variety he found it acceptable to play Carmine in The Batman as his violent actions “happen off-screen”, which he said is “scarier”.
The actor added: “I did what I wanted to with the role.”
Turturro also suggested his role in the second season of Severance, which starts in January, might be coming to an end.
Severance follows employees of a shady biotech company called Lumon that “severs” its employees’ memories using a medical procedure, dividing their work and home lives completely in a daring experiment to find a work-life balance.
While praising showrunner Ben Stiller, the actor said: “I didn’t like being in that office – the light there drove me insane. I did my second go round, but I feel like I’ve had a full meal.”
Severance is available on Apple TV+ while The Batman, which also stars Cristin Milioti, Michael Kelly, Clancy Brown and Rhenzy Feliz, is on NOW in the UK.
