The Penguin gets fall release date (and a gritty new trailer)

The Penguin is coming to the small screen for the first time in years.

DC's heavily-anticipated series will premiere on Max in the fall, it has been confirmed. A spin-off of Matt Reeves' The Batman, Colin Farrell will reprise his role as the nefarious Oswald Cobblepot in what is sure to be one of the biggest shows of the year.

After a lot of speculation, the first trailer for The Penguin has been released, confirming the fall release. Watch it below:

The purpose of the spin-off is to showcase Oz's rise to power, essentially bridging the gap between The Batman and its upcoming sequel. The character played more of a supporting role in the 2022 movie, serving as Carmine Falcone's right-hand man. However, with Falcone's death at the hands of The Riddler, he will ascend to the ranks of his comic book counterpart.

That's what the trailer suggests, too, as Cobblepot speaks of gangster Rex Calabrese and how there was a parade thrown in his honor when he died, adding "Can you imagine to be remembered like that?". That's his aim, and from the looks of the teaser, he's going to go out of his way to carve out quite the legacy for himself too, as there are glimpses of gunfire, action, and fright.

We also get to see some familiar The Batman locations, including Falcone's base of operations and Arkham Asylum - each one looking as attention-grabbing as they did in Reeves' cinematic outing.

Fans of the franchise will no doubt be thrilled when The Penguin does arrive in the fall as it will be their only venture into this world until the The Batman - Part II is released in October 2026. The film was initially set to release next year, but the strikes resulted in the eventual delay.

The Penguin is one of Batman's most notorious criminals. While the upcoming Max series will be the first time the character has headlined a project, he has been portrayed in various live-action properties in the past and was previously played by actors Burgess Meredith (The 1966 Batman TV series and movie), Danny DeVito (Batman Returns), and Robin Lord Taylor (Gotham).