It's hard to believe that it's been around 8 months since The Penguin season 1 ended on that shocking cliffhanger, and as fans cast their minds to a hopeful continuation into season 2, HBO Max boss Casey Bloys has shared a new encouraging update on its return, despite Colin Farrell's misgivings.

HBO's The Penguin took viewers through a whirlwind journey of deceit, heartbreak, and crime as Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti took to the hopeless streets of a reimagined Gotham City as Oswald 'Oz' Cobb and Sofia Falcone. While many fans wondered how the project could ever follow in the same footsteps as the Caped Crusader, the show went on to become one of the most successful TV shows for the streamer. Opening to 5.3 million US viewers across all platforms since its debut in the first four days, season one firmly marked its territory as one of the best shows of 2024. Episode 4 of the series is the highest ranked of the series on IMDb, with an incredible score of 9.5 from 12,000 reviews. Starring in movies that include The Banshees of Inisherin, In Bruges, and Phone Booth, Colin Farrell's portrayal of Oz Cobb was met with critical acclaim due to how well he pulled off the Gotham Kingpin of the underworld, as well as Cristin Milioti, who nailed Sofia Falcone's descent from reluctant heiress to volatile mob boss.

Colin Farrell as Oz Cobb in The Penguin (2024)

'Matt Reeves Is The G.O.A.T.' Colin Farrell Would Suffer Through All That Penguin Makeup For A Season 2 On One Condition

The Penguin was DC's best TV show in ages, and Colin Ferrell reveals what it'll take to make him do a potential second season of the limited series.

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By Ademilade Shodipe-Dosunmu

HBO Max Boss Weighs in on Probability of The Penguin Season 2

HBO and Max content chairman and CEO Casey Bloys told Variety in a recent interview that The Penguin season 2 could be coming sooner rather than later and is still on the cards, at least for now. Following the news of the show's Emmy nominations, Bloys was asked if the series could still return for another outing, with the HBO boss stating that, first and foremost, the main focus is on getting The Batman Part 2 out the door before moving onto anything else, but did reveal that Reeves and showrunner Lauren LeFranc have discussed ideas for season 2 of The Penguin, so another chapter is "definitely a possibility."

"The number one thing right now that Matt is dealing with is getting the movie going. I believe they’re making progress there. I know that he and [showrunner] Lauren have talked about various ideas. So, could another chapter be in the future? Definitely possible. Right now, I think the priority for Matt is the movie. But I know that Lauren is thinking of various ideas that might work alongside the movie. I think it’s possible. I just don’t know at this point."

Although Bloys stated that there is "no ETA" on when fans could officially hear about The Penguin Season 2, when asked if Colin Farrell would be on board to return as Oz Cobb, Bloys revealed that "Yes, he’s the one that has to play that dark character". However, in a separate interview with Variety, Farrell was also asked about The Penguin season 2 making a return, with the star revealing that it wasn't the case: "There’s literally not. If there was, and I was told to lie to you, I’d probably have to lie to you. But genuinely, no." Farell said that as yet, he hasn't read the script for Batman 2 and he doesn't know if he'll be in Batman 3 or not, but he's hopeful that the situation will soon change.

"Because the show went well, of course, there’s been rumblings about, “Would we do a second season? What would that look like?” There is absolutely nothing in process. There’s “Batman 2,” which I haven’t read the script for yet. And then there’s “Batman 3.” I don’t know if I’m in them or what’s happening, but I’ll hopefully read “Batman 2” soon.

Although it's unthinkable to think of a world without The Penguin in it, Farrell believed there was a time when the show could have been axed by Warner Bros. Because of the writers’ strike. Farrell was asked if there was ever a moment when he thought the show wouldn’t ever see the light of day, with the actor replying, "Yeah, a couple, like during the strike. And in a world where they can make a Batgirl film and then just can it. I don’t understand it — the debits and credits and ledgers and, f*cking, all that stuff — but they can decide that it’s economically advantageous to just shelve a $90 million film that people have put so much effort into it. You better believe it. When we were in the middle of the strike, I remember saying to my sister, “I don’t know if we’re gonna go back to this. I don’t know if we’re gonna finish it.” I did get nervous."

Since The Penguin has been nominated in the “Limited Anthology” category at the Emmys, its status for a second season seems quite confusing, especially given Bloys and Farrell's conflicting responses. However, it seems as though Oz Cobb will be making his way into The Batman Part 2 and possibly The Batman Part 3, at least.