The Penguin series is so much more than a Batman comic book series: it’s a crime epic

From the moment Colin Farrell limps onto the screen as the scarred, alien-looking Oswald Cobb, it’s clear that The Penguin is going to be special. Set immediately after the events of 2022’s The Batman, the HBO miniseries will tell the infamous villain’s story in a grittier, more grounded version of Gotham—one that feels more like the world Matt Reeves created for Robert Pattinson’s masked crusader a few years back.

The Penguin therefore feels more like a gangster series than a comic book series, more like a slightly more absurd version of The Sopranos in which an entire city can be overrun by a supervillain named The Riddler and a mass murderer can be released from Arkham Asylum and immediately return to her seat at the crime family table.

The Penguin and the Executioner

If I had to pick what makes The Penguin so good, I’d have to pick two things: Farrell’s Oz and Cristin Milioti’s Sofia Falcone. Both actors chew scenery whenever they’re on screen, drawing your eyes like gnats to a neon-blue mosquito trap. Farrell plays Oz like a man split in two: sometimes calm, cool, collected and calculating; other times like a bare wire, dangerously close to sparking in a puddle of water. Oz is able to sweet-talk his way out of sticky situations, relying on a charm he’s developed to counter his looks—one that will constantly shock you while making you forget, and remind you over and over again, that this is Colin Farrell (one of the sexiest men alive) underneath all that impressive SFX makeup and prosthetics.

He’s unrecognizable on this show, and not just because a deep scar bisects his chin and right cheek or because his pores are gigantic or because he has gold caps on some of his teeth, but because Farrell’s body language, mannerisms, and voice are so lived-in, so legitimate. He’s sunk deeper into the role than he was in The Batman, and wears the suit like a second skin. He is The Penguin.

But Milioti (who you might know best from the Star Trek-inspired episode of Black Mirror , or as the mother in How I Met Your Mother , or the co-lead in Palm Springs ) doesn’t just hold her own in scenes with Farrell, she demands your attention just as much (or more) as he does. As Sofia Falcone, aka The Hangman, the daughter of Carmine Falcone and a convicted serial killer in her own right, there’s a constantly bubbling cauldron of rage barely hiding beneath the surface, with Milioti’s wide eyes and perfect grin telegraphing Sofia’s sadistic nature at all times.

In one scene, after Sofia’s niece approaches her to reminisce about the good old days on Lake Como, we see the niece hesitate as her young daughter steps forward to join the conversation. Recognizing her niece’s mood swing, Sofia leans in to come face to face with the little girl, menacingly tousling her hair as a reminder of who’s in charge and what she’s capable of. Milioti, a New Jersey native, effortlessly adopts the mold of an Italian mafiosa, slurring her consonants and dragging out her vowels and spitting curses with gusto. She’s brilliant, and if she and Farrell don’t both get an award nomination for this show, there really is no justice in Hollywood.

A comic book Cosa Nostra

I’ve watched five episodes of The Penguin , and I can safely say that it belongs in the pantheon of great limited series like Sharp Objects , Chernobyl , and Band of Brothers . It is, from start to finish, near-perfect: a pristine crime drama about scheming con artists and murderous matriarchs, with a kind, beating heart at its core: Gotham teenager Victor Aguilar, aka Vic, brilliantly played by Bronx-born actor Rhenzy Feliz. Feliz’s stammering, lovable Vic is dragged into this world, with Oz becoming his de facto “capo,” forcing the young boy to use his casual cruelty as a way to gain an edge in the still-submerged city of Gotham.

Oz cleverly sets Vic up with a carrot and a stick in The Penguin, doling out punishments and threats in one breath and praise and accolades in the next. Farrell’s genius and Feliz’s credibility put you on the same rollercoaster ride as Vic: in one scene you believe without a doubt that Oz is a monstrous man who deserves no kindness, and only moments later you feel a pang of empathy for Oz, or a surge of pride when he congratulates Vic on a job well done. You feel the pull of this world, the glittering mirage of mob life on the horizon. You see the glittering, winking diamonds in the necklace Oz delicately places around a woman’s neck and you understand how one can get caught up in this seedy world of crime, how powerful the pride must be after an expert caper. After all, the powers that be don’t care about us, do they? Why not take what we can get for ourselves?

The Penguin is well-written, well-paced, well-filmed, and brilliantly acted. The episodes are concise and cleverly constructed, with showrunner Lauren LeFranc deftly weaving social commentary, heart-pounding action, family strife, and dark comedy throughout. Comic book-based television and movies can be so much more than men in suits fighting on visually muddy CGI battlefields. Reeves showed us that with The Batman , and LeFranc takes up the baton and runs faster than Sha’Carri Richardson. Expect this show to win awards, guys. It deserves it.

The Penguin premieres on HBO on September 19, 2024 at 9:00 p.m. ET. You won’t want to miss this.

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