HBO's The Batman spin-off, The Penguin, is firmly set in Matt Reeves' DC world, yet some characters from his 2022 movie feel more likely than others to join the series' TV cast.
Following up on the success of The Batman, Warner Bros. opted to open up the floodgates of telling more stories in this new gritty take on Gotham City and the Dark Knight Mythos.
The Penguin was confirmed to be just the first of these The Batman spin-offs, but, aside from the Penguin himself, it has not included too many recognizable faces from its movie predecessor. One can assume someone from The Batman will show up in the series at some point, but who?
The Batman Characters Most Likely To Appear in The Penguin
Batman
- Likelihood: Possible
Of course, the name at the top of nearly every fan's wishlist for The Penguin would be Robert Pattinson's Batman (as seen in The Batman). However, despite his character being the focal point of this entire universe, a cameo from the Caped Crusader may not be as likely as one would think.
As recent as September 2024, The Batman director Matt Reeves has denied Pattinson's Batman will be in The Penguin in any way. Speaking to Total Film (via GamesRadar), the DC creative said, "Batman is in this [show] only as a sense that he’s a presence" but would not appear properly:
"I’m a point-of-view filmmaker. When I’m doing a Batman story, Batman and Bruce is going to be the main point of view. To explore the rogues gallery, they could never get the real estate we can do in a series. So Batman is in this [show] only as a sense that he’s a presence. You’re aware that all of these events began because of the Riddler, but the Riddler doesn’t appear and Batman doesn’t appear."
However, he can only be taken at his word on that, and if Batman/Bruce Wayne were to appear it would not be the first time someone lied about a major comic character hiding in an upcoming project.
Seeing as this DC sub-franchise is literally called The Batman, the character's arrival is always a possibility and can never be 100% counted out.
Commissioner Gordon
- Likelihood: Likely
Of the characters on this list, Jeffrey Wright's Commissioner Gordon feels like the most likely The Batman cast member to pop up somewhere in HBO's The Penguin series.
Gordon was a major part of Matt Reeves' first Batman movie, helping Robert Pattinson's Dark Knight in his crusade to bring the devious Riddler to justice. As a part of this investigation, Gordon had several meetings with Colin Farrel's Oz Cobb (aka The Penguin). This means the Penguin as a presence is clearly on his radar.
Plus, of major players from The Batman, Gordon (and, in turn, Wright) feels like it would not be too big of a stretch to get him on-screen for a scene or two in the film's TV spin-off. Commissioner Gordon, at one point, was even going to be the focus of Gotham PD-focused spin-off series himself, before that project was axed.
Wright himself just wrapped filming on another HBO series, The Last of Us (where he will reprise his role of Isaac from The Last of Us Part II game). Pairing this with his past work on HBO series like Westworld, Wright has proven that he and HBO get along quite well.
This kind of relationship between actor and studio very well could have resulted in Wright coming in as a favor for The Penguin and filming something in his already packed schedule.
Riddler
- Likelihood: Possible
The Riddler is an interesting one to talk about in terms of a potential The Penguin appearance. Despite not having appeared on-screen in the show's early goings, his presence can be felt everywhere (sometimes even more than Batman's).
Across the show, evidence of The Riddler cult can be seen. Oz gets a mysterious QR code from one of his followers in The Penguin premiere and then protestors supporting the Batman villain can also be seen standing around the city in Episode 2.
Because of this, Paul Dano's DC Comics killer feels like he could be a natural fit for a Penguin cameo, and is probably the most likely to appear among the villains from The Batman villain.
Paul Dano has said that he would "probably" return to the role of The Riddler if he was asked, although that was for, what was at the time, a potential sequel:
"If they wanted there to be one, I’d probably be there. But I actually have not thought a whole lot about it, and I find it curious myself that I’ve somehow spent even more time with this character, because someone asked me, when we were doing 'Batman' press, 'Did you take anything home from the set?' And I was like, 'No.' Of Edward’s. I was like, I don’t need anything of that guy in my home. Jokingly."
Thus far, the series has not been shy in showing the inside of Gotham City's Arkham Asylum, with its many flashbacks to the incarcerated life of Cristin Milioti's Sofia Falcone.
Seeing as Falcone is revealed to have just gotten out of the clink at the beginning of the series, that would mean for at least a short time (likely a week or so) both she and the Riddler were locked away in the same prison, making a potential cameo from the puzzle-loving psychopath a possibility.
Joker
- Likelihood: Unlikely
One may think, seeing as both Joker and Riddler were seen communing in Arkham at the end of The Batman, that he has as good a chance of popping up in The Penguin, and that assumption may be right.
However, something feels off about putting Barry Keoghan's Clown Prince of Crime on the same level of likelihood to appear in the HBO series as Paul Dano's Edward Nashton.
This probably comes down to the fact that the creatives behind this Elseworlds universe would likely want to save Joker's next appearance for a proper introduction in the next film.
Keoghan has said that "as soon as that call comes, I'm there," when it comes to a potential return as the Joker, but The Penguin just does not feel like the right place for that to happen, especially considering the way he would have to work into the HBO series' story.
Seeing as Keoghan's DC big bad is still locked behind bars in Arkham Asylum, any potential role he would have in The Penguin would assumedly be a short tease or cameo.
That was also the same way he was introduced at the end of The Batman, and doing another wink and nudge towards the villain in this way could get stale for audiences.
Catwoman
- Likelihood: Highly Unlikely
The least likely of the major The Batman characters to pop up in The Penguin is Zoë Kravitz's Catwoman.
Matt Reeves' 2022 DC debut provided what was essentially a full arc for Kravitz's character. With the death of Carmine Falcone and the city saved from the tyranny of The Riddler, Catwoman was seen leaving Gotham City behind.
Her final scene in the movie felt like a goodbye to both fans and Robert Pattinson's Caped Crusader (at least for now). That would make a cameo or appearance in The Penguin cheapen that closure.
Kravitz previously told Collider that she would be interested in coming back to The Batman universe, saying she hopes she can explore her character "coming into her power and wanting to explore:"
"It was a woman coming into her power and wanting to explore what it feels like when she can be playful and sit into that power. Hopefully, it will be very fun one day."
But if Warner Bros. is going to do that, it would make more sense to do it with the pomp and circumstance of a full-fledged Batman movie rather than a TV spin-off.
The Penguin continues with new episodes hitting HBO and Max every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET.
