The Penguin"s Showrunner On Creating A Gotham Show Without The Batman
The Penguin"s showrunner reveals what it was like creating a Gotham series that didn"t include The Batman. Set in the same world as Matt Reeves" The Batman and before the events of The Batman Part II, Max"s upcoming Penguin sees Colin Farrell returning to the role of Oswald "Oz" Cobb, the former right-hand man of Gotham crime boss Carmine Falcone who"s now set his sights on ruling Gotham himself. However, Oz will also have to contend with Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti), Carmine"s daughter.
Screen Rant recently got to sit down at a roundtable discussion with Penguin writer and showrunner Lauren LeFranc and other journalists. During the interview, Lauren talked about the goal behind The Penguin as a show that did not include Robert Pattinson"s Batman, as well as the new relationships Oz forms as he seeks power in Gotham"s underworld. LeFranc also talked about developing Sofia Falcone as a major Gotham powerhouse in her own right.
Lauren LeFranc Confirms How Liberating It Is To Create A Gotham Show Without Batman Fleshing Out Other Characters While Leaving Bruce Wayne For Matt Reeves' The Batman Part II![]()
Screen Rant: You get to tell a story in Gotham that isn"t defined by Batman himself, and Oz doesn"t seem particularly concerned or care about The Batman either. How liberating was it to tell a story like that?
[indent] Lauren LeFranc: It was really liberating, honestly. You know, I think the most important thing to me was to make sure that our characters are worth watching on their own, that the stories that we"re telling are engaging enough that you don"t miss The Batman and that you stop thinking about him. You know, I understand why there"s so much discussion and fervor over "is Batman on the show or not"? Because I had those questions too, early on.
But ultimately, to me, I"m so interested and compelled by our actors and by the characters themselves that I hope, and I hope other people are, that it was really nice to just be able to tell Oz"s world and, like, see the seedy underbelly of Gotham and not cater to other voices.
You know, we get to really wholeheartedly spend time with Oz and these other really interesting characters and dig deeper into them. And I think that is how you get to have more rich storytelling in that way for these particular characters, at least. And then that affords Matt Reeves tons of opportunity to dig deeper into Batman again in the sequel.
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Screen Rant recently got to sit down at a roundtable discussion with Penguin writer and showrunner Lauren LeFranc and other journalists. During the interview, Lauren talked about the goal behind The Penguin as a show that did not include Robert Pattinson"s Batman, as well as the new relationships Oz forms as he seeks power in Gotham"s underworld. LeFranc also talked about developing Sofia Falcone as a major Gotham powerhouse in her own right.
Lauren LeFranc Confirms How Liberating It Is To Create A Gotham Show Without Batman Fleshing Out Other Characters While Leaving Bruce Wayne For Matt Reeves' The Batman Part II
Screen Rant: You get to tell a story in Gotham that isn"t defined by Batman himself, and Oz doesn"t seem particularly concerned or care about The Batman either. How liberating was it to tell a story like that?[indent] Lauren LeFranc: It was really liberating, honestly. You know, I think the most important thing to me was to make sure that our characters are worth watching on their own, that the stories that we"re telling are engaging enough that you don"t miss The Batman and that you stop thinking about him. You know, I understand why there"s so much discussion and fervor over "is Batman on the show or not"? Because I had those questions too, early on.
But ultimately, to me, I"m so interested and compelled by our actors and by the characters themselves that I hope, and I hope other people are, that it was really nice to just be able to tell Oz"s world and, like, see the seedy underbelly of Gotham and not cater to other voices.
You know, we get to really wholeheartedly spend time with Oz and these other really interesting characters and dig deeper into them. And I think that is how you get to have more rich storytelling in that way for these particular characters, at least. And then that affords Matt Reeves tons of opportunity to dig deeper into Batman again in the sequel.
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