How The Penguin Uses Sociopaths as Protagonists
29The Penguin is a masterclass in writing villains as protagonists; Oswald Cobb and Sofia Falcone’s character arcs and presentation to us as viewers function in an almost reverse fashion, shifting our perspectives as the series goes on in an ingenious way. In this video essay, I dive into what makes these characters so well written.
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Chapters:
00:00 Character Writing in The Penguin
01:22 Episodic Perspective Shift
12:17 Reverse Character Arcs
14:56 Villain Protagonist
The transformation of Oz Cobb from a disfigured nobody to a noted Gotham gangster.
The Penguin is an American crime drama television miniseries developed by Lauren LeFranc for HBO. Based on the DC Comics character of the same name, it serves as a spin-off from the 2022 film The Batman, and follows Oz Cobb's rise to power in Gotham City's criminal underworld. LeFranc serves as the showrunner of the series, which is produced by DC Studios in association with Warner Bros. Television.
Colin Farrell stars as the titular character, reprising his role from The Batman, alongside Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz, Deirdre O’Connell, Clancy Brown, Carmen Ejogo, Michael Zegen, Berto Colón, Scott Cohen, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Theo Rossi, James Madio, Nadine Malouf, Joshua Bitton, David H. Holmes, Daniel J. Watts, Jared Abrahamson, Ben Cook, Jayme Lawson, Aleska Palladino, Craig Walker, Tess Soltau, Marié Botha, Michael Kelly, and Mark Strong.
Development on the series was underway by September 2021, and HBO Max ordered it in March 2022, after The Batman was released. The film's director, Matt Reeves, supervised the writing and was involved in hiring the creative team.
The series received critical acclaim for its performances, writing, direction, tone, and production value. It was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards, winning Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film for Farrell.
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