2022’s The Batman starring Robert Pattinson and directed by Matt Reeves shook the box office and kept fan love for DC alive. It made $770 million on a $185–200 million budget. Later on, it was announced that multiple spin-off projects of the film are in development at Warner Bros. Discovery. One of those projects is The Penguin series on HBO Max. Colin Farrell who portrayed the character of Oswald Cobblepot/ the Penguin will reprise his role for the show and now it has been confirmed that Clancy Brown will also star in the upcoming The Batman spinoff.
Clancy Brown Will Star In The Penguin
Variety reports that Clancy Brown will play Salvatore Maroni on The Penguin. Maroni is a mob boss operating in Gotham City. In The Batman, Maroni appeared briefly on screen when it was mentioned that he was arrested by the GCPD in its largest drug bust. It was revealed that corrupt officials and Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), also a mobster, had set him up. Brown is a respected actor and is familiar with the comic book genre as well. After all, he is well known for portraying Colonel Ray Schoonover on Netflix’s Daredevil.
Most fans will accept that he was severely underused in the show. So maybe a jump to a prestigious HBO production will allow him to stretch his acting muscles more. But that isn’t the only Marvel character Clancy Brown has played. The actor has voiced Surtur in Thor: Ragnarok as well. Also, this isn’t the first DC comics character he is playing. Brown portrayed General Wade Eiling on The Flash CW series. Additionally, he also voiced Lex Luthor in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited animated shows.
In the comics, Bill Finger and Bob Kane created Salvatore Maroni who first appeared in Detective Comics #66 (1942). To casual comic book readers, the Clancy Brown played character is probably best known for throwing acid on Harvey Dent’s face in Batman: The Long Halloween and making him Two-Face. His appearance in The Penguin also won’t be the first time the character will show up in live-action. Dennis Paladino played the character in Batman Forever (1995) and Eric Roberts played him in The Dark Knight (2008). Apart from this, Maroni has also shown up in the Gotham TV series (2014), where he was played by David Zayas.
The Penguin To Lead Directly To The Batman 2?
In an interview with Collider, Matt Reeves stated that The Penguin is a direct follow-up of The Batman and will begin with a still-flooded Gotham city. Also, he stated that the show will lead into the sequel to the movie as well. As per the director:
“There’s actually a whole little fabric of things we’re wanting to do, the way we’re doing with [the] Penguin and how that comes back into how that will lead into the sequel, and what that sequel is going to be.”
Industry insider Jeff Sneider revealed on The Hot Mic podcast that along with Clancy Brown, Robert Pattinson could also star in a couple of episodes of The Penguin. However, this information hasn’t been corroborated by other scoopers or even through an official announcement. Along with The Penguin, there’s another spin-off of The Batman in development at HBO Max. It’s the Arkham Asylum series. There’s currently no information on the casting or plot of the show. Additionally, it’s rumored that Matt Reeves plans on making more spin-offs with other villains in Batman’s rogues gallery.
The Batman is slated for 3 October 2025 release. The Penguin doesn’t have a release date yet.
Source: Variety
