Max has released a new look at its upcoming DC crime drama The Penguin that gives a much more expansive look at the show’s world and characters.
Below is the second teaser trailer for the upcoming Max limited series — a spinoff of Matt Reeves’ 2022 hit The Batman starring Colin Farrell as the infamous Gotham City gangster. The footage includes scenes clearly picking up right after the events at the end of The Batman.
In the movie, The Penguin was a lieutenant to crime boss Carmine Falcone, who met an untimely end. In the series, The Penguin is stepping up to lead crime in Gotham City in a series. The footage suggests the show could play like a DC take on The Sopranos. Lauren LeFranc (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) serves as showrunner.
The Penguin is from DC Studios, the Warner Bros. division run by James Gunn and Peter Safran, who are plotting out their own shared universe of movies and TV shows. Both The Batman and The Penguin are considered separate from those plans and take place in their own universe under the Elseworlds banner — a nod to alternate universe stories in the DC Comics.
Earlier this week, Gunn was asked on social media when the script for Part II will be ready. “When Matt thinks it’s ready!” Gunn replied.
The show also stars Cristin Milioti (Sofia Falcone), Rhenzy Feliz (Victor Aguilar), Michael Kelly (Johnny Viti), Shohreh Aghdashloo (Nadia Maroni), Deirdre O’Connell (Francis Cobb), Clancy Brown (Salvatore Maroni), James Madio (Milos Grapa), Scott Cohen (Luca Falcone), Michael Zegen (Alberto Falcone), Carmen Ejogo (Eve Karlo), Theo Rossi (Dr. Julian Rush). Executive producers include Reeves, Farrell, Dylan Clark, LeFranc, director Craig Zobel and Bill Carraro.
The Penguin will launch this fall and will help tide over audiences awaiting more from Reeves’ The Batman world. Back in March, the studio announced that The Batman Part II has been delayed a year and will now be released in October 2026.
Aaron Couch contributed to this report.
