Summary

Colin Farrell believes a horrific killing scene in season 1 of The Penguin may hinder the show's chances for a second season.
The Penguin spin-off explores Oz Cobb's rise in Gotham City's criminal underworld, receiving high praise and award nominations.
Despite fan anticipation for a second season, Matt Reeves' focus is on The Batman 2, making a Penguin season 2 unlikely until the movie is complete.

HBO's The Penguin was one of the most exciting shows on television in 2024, attracting a mass of viewers eager to find out what happens next as it ups the stakes with every 60-minute-long episode. As the show lifted the lid on some of DC's most complex characters, fans wanted nothing more than to see the compelling series receive a second season, but Colin Farrell, who played crime boss Oz Cobb AKA The Penguin, thinks that one horrific scene in the show may have jeopardized the chance of it getting greenlit for The Penguin season 2.

The Penguin, a spin-off series set in the world of Matt Reeves' film The Batman, explores Oswald Cobb's rise to power in Gotham City's criminal underbelly. Initially starting out as Carmine Falcone's minion, the show chronicles Oz's journey to the notorious villain he’s known as in the DC universe. Thankfully, The Penguin didn't succumb to the curse that some comic book adaptations do. Since its release in September 2024, the series has received countless award nominations as well as accumulated high praise from fans and critics alike, which saw episode 4 being the highest ranked of the series on IMDb, with an incredible score of 9.5 from 12,000 reviews. Now, as fans wait to hear if the beloved show will indeed make a well-deserved comeback, Farrell has revealed his doubts.

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By Rachael Fiddis

Colin Farrell Thinks One Horrific Act by Oz May Have Stopped Season 2 From Happening

Talking to The Hollywood Reporter, Colin Farrell revealed that he thinks a second season of The Penguin could be difficult due to Oz Cobb's callous and shocking killing of Vic at the end of episode eight in season one. Farrell thinks that Cobb's horrendous act of murdering a kid might have gone too far with its audience, resulting in the show's fandom finding it a lot harder to connect or have any sympathy for the gangster than ever before.

“I certainly think it makes [a second season] more difficult. [Killing Vic] is a very hard thing to claw back from. It’s not impossible, but it’s a tougher hill to climb.”

The last episode of The Penguin season one brought a truly chilling close to the end of Oz Cobb's story as a ruthless villain of the underworld that shocked its viewers. Vic, who Oz had taken under his wing, was killed after he confessed that he thought of Oz as family, pushing the already unhinged Penguin to breaking point, as he likely considered this a weakness of Vic's and something that would make him vulnerable. Oz's need to remain powerful in the eyes of his enemies is everything to him, and he perceived Vic as a threat to that goal, especially after everything Vic witnessed with Oz's mother.

Even though many fans of The Penguin are crying out for a second season, Matt Reeves' most recent update seems to indicate that The Batman 2 is his current main focus, and if a second season of The Penguin is going to happen, it wouldn't be until the movie is completed. Warner Bros. Television Group CEO Channing Dungey also previously stated that all the cast would need to be involved to get the ball rolling again.