The Penguin's most underrated character (so far)

The seedy underbelly of Gotham City sits bleakly in an obsidian corner of its universe. Tucked within those corners are shadowy secrets that hide from the light that the elite pretends the city to be. Like a volcano, these shadows yearn to burst out in a society of crime and tragedy, and they’re tethered by those who’d rather see them silenced.

2022’s The Batman, directed by Matt Reeves, featured an enthralling Gotham City littered with interesting characters. Jeffrey Wright’s gruff Jim Gordon, Andy Serkis’s lovable Alfred Pennyworth, Zoë Kravitz’s alluring Selina Kyle (a.k.a. Catwoman), Paul Dano’s unsettling Riddler, and of course, Robert Pattinson’s hopeful yet tortured portrayal of Bruce Wayne and Batman.

Among that cast, one remarkable standout saw actor Colin Farrell magically transform into The Penguin's unique visage. Beneath the makeup and prosthetics lay the Irish actor known for films like The Banshees of Inisherin, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Miami Vice, and Minority Report. No stranger to comic books, he even portrayed Bullseye in 2003’s Daredevil.

Evoking the grizzled and beaten look of Oswald “Oz” Cobb, Farrell pulls from the mafia/mob movies and television shows of the past, such as The Godfather’s Fredo Corleone, according to an interview with Deadline.

Easily, The Penguin stole the show in the film. Disappearing completely within the grit, scars, and beaky nose, the normally charming Farrell’s gravelly New York accent makes the classic Batman villain come alive in a way that feels real, yet so intrinsically like his comic book origin.

So popular was the character that DC decided to explore more of the iconic criminal that Matt Reeves suggested making him a focal point in a sequel film. Studio executives opted for something different; a spin-off series that would instead bridge the gap between The Batman and The Batman: Part II. 

What resulted was a series that has thus far provided deeper insight into Gotham City following the events of The Batman.

Spoilers ahead.

The characters of The Penguin

Oz Cobb’s kingpin aspirations undoubtedly drive this series, but a collection of elements informs of deeper issues that run rampant in the infamous city. While he’s an entertaining and compelling factor by his own merit, he’s not the only person who stands out.

The Penguin takes a deeper look at how Gotham’s citizens attempt to recover from the flood, exposing the city's warts when it’s so mismanaged and corrupted by criminals and how it can turn even the more innocent parts of its population to darkness. 

In Oz’s tow is a homeless teenager, Victor “Vic” Aguilar, who was caught attempting to steal the rims of his car with fellow gang members. Understandably upset by this, he fends them off, leaving only Vic. Vic is forced to drive Oz around Gotham to complete various errands as compensation for his failed theft.

Though gruff with Vic, Oz quickly warms up to him. He sees something in the teenager, things that Vic doesn’t see in himself. 

What makes Vic compelling is that he’s a byproduct of the aftermath of Riddler’s bombing and flooding of Gotham: He’s lost his family, he’s homeless, and he’s forgotten by society. By this, Oz sees himself in Vic. As he gives orders, he praises the teenager, believing him to be one who could stand equally by his side to rule Gotham. 

Traumatized by the flood and the loss of all he had, Vic faces PTSD and stutters greatly. It’s hard not to root for him because he’s endured so much, quickly. He deserves a break. Unfortunately, to reach a better life, he has to weigh decisions, with much of them setting him onto a rough path.

Vic has nothing now except a girlfriend (who aims to leave Gotham by season 1 episode 3, “Bliss”) and Oz. We learn that Vic was already on a bad path, becoming friends with a known drug dealer, someone his parents disapprove of, but he maintains the character of a still good youth, someone who’s lost and perhaps needs to get out of the city.

Another actor receiving praise for their performance is serial killer and former Arkham Asylum inmate Sofia Falcone, portrayed by Cristin Milioti of How I Met Your Mother fame. Recently released from Arkham, Sofia is introduced shortly after Oz murders her brother, Alberto Falcone. Already unwell from her time in prison, Sofia’s mental health takes a further nosedive after his mysterious disappearance.

Hesitant to work with Oz, even torturing him at one point, Sofia soon opens up to him…just enough. Traumatized by those who betrayed her and sent her to Arkham as well as damaged by Alberto’s vanishing and the discovery of his body, her actions become erratic. Eating food sloppily with her hands in place of silverware and lashing out, Sofia grows increasingly unhinged by each subsequent episode.

Despite this, she aids Oz by striking up a deal with a Triad crime boss to sell a new drug she used in Arkham by appealing to how attractive it would be for Gotham citizens seeking to distract themselves from the tragic flooding. Though uneasy, collaboration with Oz seems fruitful for her.

The thing about Oz, however, is he would sell most people out to save himself. That’s who he is to his core – a bitter and cowardly man who knows what to do with power and lacks the remorse to prevent it. 

In episode 3, “Bliss”, Oz inevitably betrays Sofia to survive the Maroni family. In the next episode, “Cent’Anni”, her suspicions of him were at last confirmed, with it revealed he killed Alberto. This reinforces a history of men using and dissolving her trust in a series of flashbacks, why she became the way she is. 

Milioti’s performance as Sofia Falcone in The Penguin has seen her lauded by fans for her show-stealing performance. Standing side-by-side with Colin Farrell in a mountain of prosthetics while putting on one of his career-best performances is no easy feat, but she eats up every second of screen time she occupies. A woman fighting to earn her place, only to find out the world is broken is a resonant tale. In this, Milioti assists the show in becoming a must-watch every Sunday.

Though he cares for Vic, he’s likely to throw him under the bus as he does to Sofia, but there’s someone he may care for so much that he wouldn’t dare to betray.

Someone with a small, yet impactful role that I feel ties the mythos, realism, and tragedy so well in The Penguin.

Francis Cobb and Late Parenthood

Oz’s mother, Francis, is in a small state when viewers first see her. In the first episode of the series, “After Hours”, Oz and Vic pay her a visit to her home, with the former giving her a new, elegant necklace. She’s sweet, very loving, and proud of her son. But something is off about her.

The first indication of this is when Oz finds her pills submerged in her bathtub filled with water. He confronts her about this, and she replies that she already took them for breakfast. Oz reasons that the tub is full, and she replies “The boys were playing in the bath, they didn’t wanna get out.” To viewers, this may be odd. For others, this behavior is unfortunately all too recognizable, and it's telling by the look on Oz’s lost blank face. 

What Francis faces in her daily life is a heavy, existential affliction, as the Alzheimer’s Association states, people living with these conditions can misremember or lose track of the passage of time and season. Believing herself to be in a past moment or another day of the week based on an old routine is a heavy sign. 

Still, despite this oddity, she knows that with Oz’s gift and urging for an impromptu tip as well as Vic’s presence something shady is going on.

Oz confesses that they need to leave town because he killed Alberto Falcone for laughing at him. Rather than comply, she hits him with tough love. She tells him he’s not a coward (for lack of a better term) and that he didn’t kill him out of impulse, he did it out of instinct. She proudly and tearfully gushes that he’s so close to having everything he wanted, everything he deserved, and implores him to go get it.

There’s so much love that Francis has for Oz. She thinks the world of him. There’s a lack of filter on her, as she’s a very particular woman, so she may be blunt and harsh but she wants the best for him, even as she’s crumbling and doesn’t see it.

The remark about the boys in the tub immediately raises eyebrows upon initial viewing, as well as Oz’s reaction to it. Were the boys Oz’s brothers? Friends? Cousins? From the look on his face, either they’ve long since passed on, or are adults and she’s forgetting things.

In episode 2, “Inside Man”, Oz is called to her house by her landlord, Cesar, who Oz pays to watch over her. Dressed nicely but without a jacket, Cesar caught her trying to attend Mass, only for it to not be a Sunday. Cesar pleads with Oz that her early onset dementia is worsening, and she needs professional and permanent help. 

Oz continues to look after her and pays Cesar to do so as well.

The rest of the scene transpires with her dancing to jazz with her son, urging him to reach success quicker so she doesn’t rot away in this house she dislikes because she feels her time is almost up. Despite his reassurances, it’s easy to tell that Oz understands this and feels that pressure.

What makes Francis compelling is that she’s affected differently from everyone else in the show. While everyone else reels from The Riddler’s terrorism and the Falcone-Maroni crime war, her affliction is one that human nature itself imbued upon her. And it’s hard to watch.

Broken fragments of a broken past and broken memories with which to forget them.

Someone watching over a person they grew up knowing breaking apart mentally or physically is a heavy thing to cope with. Witnessing something that a loved one was there for, only for them to not remember it, and worse arguing about it, is painful. Then to watch them know something is wrong but they don’t know what as the blurs of life intermingle into a confusing haze is terrifying. Even when they’re blissfully unaware, it wrings the heart like a damp washcloth but the tears must be saved. Futile, for not even they can put out the flames of a burning memory.

The people of Gotham, much like us perhaps, are still living, bustling, and moving around, reacting to an ever-changing world. But for people like Francis, the reality is much like a desolate ballroom with dissonant big swing music or an empty mall with muffled new wave tracks. 

Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are no strangers to fictional depictions, especially in the superhero space. Peggy Carter in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Professor Charles Xavier in 2017’s Logan both featured beloved characters fans were familiar with grow old in a hard-to-watch way, but with The Penguin, Francis is new to us. All we have to go on is Oz’s interactions with her and how Cesar and Vic see her. She’s a woman who on the surface seems to have done her best to raise her child (or children), and she’s likely to not experience or remember any of the successes that Oz may reach. 

Despite the morality of his mission, the wish to have her see how he accomplishes their dream hangs by its strings, frayed as they might be. 

Though The Penguin is a crime drama in a gritty superhero story laden with murder, drugs, sex, and violence, the mother-son relationship provides a unique facet to it. That flood or no flood, the world continues to turn and the dove does not always return with an olive leaf. 

Something that this spin-off does so well is it creates a memorable cast of characters without Batman, Jim Gordon, Alfred Pennyworth, or the rogue’s gallery of villains that haunt Gotham. The Penguin is a story like The Sopranos where mafia families vie for the soul of a city and business. But through the PTSD of Sofia and Vic and the dementia of Francis, the story holds a deeper look into the human experience within an unforgettable setting known for lore and action and superhero escapades.

That’s what makes fictional worlds so captivating, where fans can believe in these places where things are similar to ours on the surface but are worlds apart in manners we haven’t lived. That’s why stories have had value since man first learned to share them. We as humans are taken away on a journey that either touches or distracts us.

While adding a notch to The Batman’s mythos and bridging the gap between the first and second films, The Penguin speaks to the heart in a grim and immoral saga about a man who follows his dream of holding the world in the palm of his hand.

Under the beaky nose of DC’s crafty villain, I’m curious to see how Francis, Vic, Sofia, and Salvatore Maroni end up. I’m invested in this cast of characters. I want to see the shape they make, whether it makes me smile or it breaks my heart. I want to see it, and how it will lead Penguin into the future of The Batman franchise.