It’s no secret that the world of The Batman is different from every other take on the Caped Crusader. The Riddler is now Zodiac, Bruce Wayne wears messy eyeliner and listens to Nirvana, and Alfred bears a passing resemblance to Gollum. But one of the movie’s most drastic shifts was the transformation of The Penguin, as one of Batman’s most ridiculous villains was morphed from an avian dandy to a gruff crime lord, more Tony Soprano than Danny DeVito.
Now The Penguin, the character’s new spinoff series, is teaching us far more about this version of Oswald Cobblepot, including the fact his name isn’t even Oswald Cobblepot; it’s been shortened to Oz Cobb. Is this new name just a byproduct of his gangster transformation, or could it be hiding a far more complicated secret?
Executive producer Craig Zobel told Hollywood Handle that the name was changed to make the character more believable. “I don’t know everything in Matt Reeves’ mind, but largely, we all kinda felt like Cobblepot wasn’t a real person’s name,” he said. “The goal was to just find a real, rooted, more grounded name.”
But could there be another reason Cobblepot was shortened to Cobb? A theory reported by Comicbook suggests the name may be a comic reference hiding in plain sight.
Far back in Batman comic history, when Wayne Enterprises was founded in the 19th century, the Court of Owls reigned as one of Gotham’s biggest crime syndicates. Using assassins known as Talons to enforce their power, they secretly ruled Gotham for well over a century. One of the most prolific Talons was William Cobb, a killer born at the turn of the century who’s believed to be responsible for the murder of Alan Wayne, Bruce Wayne’s great-grandfather.
Cobb scraped out a living as a street performer before joining Haly’s Circus, where he was trained to be a Talon. As he grew up, he fell in love and fathered a boy. Knowing his career could easily get him killed, Cobb brought the newborn to the head of the circus and asked him to raise him as “The Gray Son of Gotham,” a nod to the Court’s influence as the self-proclaimed “Gray of Gotham” who were pulling the strings. Very long story short, the name stuck, and the child grew up with the last name Grayson, but became an acrobat rather than becoming another Talon as Cobb had hoped. With the Grayson line established, the stage was set for Dick Grayson to join up with Batman as Robin many generations later.
Maybe the name is just a coincidence, but there aren’t a lot of coincidences in comic books, and there are a number of ways this backstory could tie into The Penguin. If Oz is descended from the same Cobb family, he could be a distant cousin of Robin. More intriguingly, if William Cobb didn’t give up his son in the world of The Batman, it’s possible Oz’s family could have roots that are linked to the Court of Owls. That would certainly be on brand considering his character’s typical bird affinity, and it would also make sense for Batman’s most infamous crime ring to be operating in the shadows, even on HBO.
Oz Cobb may be looking for total control of Gotham, but it’s possible his ancestors were pulling the strings centuries before Batman even donned his cowl. If that’s true, maybe a Talon — or even the Court of Owls — will appear in the show... which would almost certainly be preparing them to go up against Bruce Wayne in Batman 2.
