HBO Max's Best Show of 2024 Might Actually Get a Season 2
One of the biggest and most pleasant surprises of 2024 was the HBO Max limited series The Penguin. Spun-off from the 2022 film The Batman, the acclaimed series saw Colin Farrell return to the popular role of Oz Cobb, a Gotham City mobster who will stop at nothing to get to the top of the criminal underworld.
Featuring a stand-out performance from Cristin Milioti as rival mobster Sofia Falcone, The Penguin was much more than just a show in the shadow of Batman. It genuinely proved that thoughtful, and gripping crime show can happen inside a comic-book universe. And now, it seems, there might be second season for The Penguin.
In a new interview with Variety, Matt Reeves, the director of The Batman—and upcoming movie The Batman: Part II—made it clear that fans of The Penguin have been heard, loud and clear.
"Yeah, we’re talking to [showrunner] Lauren [LeFranc] about doing another season [of The Penguin]," he said. "That was a special experience. I just feel really fortunate. These characters don’t belong to me; they belong to the world. It comes down to whether you can approach them in a way that expresses something personal."
More than any other comic-book spinoff show in recent memory, The Penguin was the rare TV series that didn't even really need its superheroic source material to work. The show didn't exactly end on a cliffhanger, but it did leave some lingering questions as to how Oz becomes the Penguin we know from the comics. Plus, there was a very big revelation that Sofia had a connection with Catwoman, who, in the new films, is played by Zoë Kravitz. Could Penguin Season 2 explore all of this?
In all likelihood, The Batman: Part II will come out before a hypothetical Penguin Season 2. But, for now, if you've slept on The Penguin Season 1, you're missing one of the best mobster shows in recent memory.