The Penguin showrunner revealed why classic Batman villains such as Joker or Harley Quinn did not appear in the show's take on Arkham Asylum.
Penguin Episode 4 focused on Cristin Milioti's Sofia Falcone and her backstory in Arkham Asylum, which saw her father frame his daughter and throw Sofia into the iconic prison. Everyone believed her to be the deadly Hangman Killer, yet she was completely innocent.
During her stay in the confines of Arkham Asylum, she runs into the niche Batman villain Magpie––but more well-known names remain off-screen.
Here's Why The Penguin Never Showed Joker or Harley Quinn
The Direct's Russ Milheim spoke with The Penguin showrunner Lauren LeFranc at New York Comic Con (NYCC), where she revealed why no other big villains appeared in Arkham Asylum.
For The Penguin Episode 4, Lauren LeFranc explained how they "thought just about Sophia" and her journey while making the episode:
"Honestly, for that episode, we thought just about Sophia, like Sophia's journey. It's a tricky episode because it's only about an hour long, and we told a lot of story in it. It's like, how can you express Arkham? How can you express what this woman goes through, through it? So it was all through the lens of Sophia."
"We didn't want to have a character that would detract from her experience," LeFranc further elaborated, "not a casual Joker, not a Harley Quinn:"
"We didn't want to throw the kitchen sink at us, and we didn't want to have a character that would detract from her experience or have people be like, Oh, it's [that villain]!' Not a casual Joker, not a Harley Quinn. Like, those characters are amazing. But for what we were doing, we're telling Sophia's story, and we just want you to be immersed in her perspective, in her world."
Other cast members were also in attendance at NYCC, including Cristin Milioti, who plays Sofia Falcone.
On what her North Star was when working on her big spotlight episode for the show's fourth installment, Milioti pointed to her "two incredible collaborators in Lauren [LaFranc] and Helen Shaver:"
"I had two incredible collaborators in Lauren [LaFranc] and in Helen Shaver, who directed it, and I feel like they were sort of my North Stars. We felt so aligned, and we shot that episode so quickly. I think we shot that episode in like 10 days, maybe less, I don't know. And it was so intense, and it was so--you just kind of had to do it."
"I felt supported by them and guided by them," she continued:
"And I felt supported by them and guided by them, and I was given permission to sort of try anything, and in this very like high-pressure environment, because you're trying to shoot a lot in a little bit of time, and you're working long hours and all this stuff. And so I would say that they were."
When asked if he thought his character had ever had interactions with Batman offscreen, Michael Kelly, who plays Johnny Viti, admitted he did not think too much about it but guessed that Viti might not be around if he did meet the Caped Crusader:
"No, I didn't go into that world. You gotta figure, I wonder. My guess would probably be no because I don't know that Johnny Viti would still be around if he did run into him. Maybe a kapow."
Rhenzy Feliz was confident that if Batman had tried beating some sense into Victor, it wouldn't have changed his character's confidence in Oz Cobb and his current path:
"I would say, I think he's a little far in. If Batman beats the shit out of him, maybe he'll change his ways. But I think right now, Episode Five, he's made a decision. I'm sticking with Oz. This is the road we're going down. I think maybe he trembles a bit when Batman comes around, but I think he'll stick to the course."
While not a villain in the classic sense, Deirdre O'Connell's Francis Cobb is an unsettling addition to The Penguin, thanks to her unnerving dynamic with Colin Farrell's Oz Cobb (read more about Colin Farrell's Penguin here).
The actress admitted that she and Farrell actually "never talked about it" beforehand and simply naturally found the two character's dynamic in the moment:
"I feel like we never talked about it, we never worked on it, we never rehearsed it, we never discussed it. We were just so lucky to find each other. It was one of those, you know, getting struck by lightning... From the minute he was in his full regalia, and I was in my full regalia. It was like, oh, game on."
Be sure to check out more of these interviews from The Penguin at NYCC below:
Was It a Good Idea to Exclude the Joker and Other Batman Villains?
While many fans would have loved to see some teases of big Batman villains like Joker and Harley Quinn, the choice to keep the story focused on Cristin Milioti's Sofia Falcone was the right choice.
After all, many will agree that her performance and Sofia's character are the show's strongest elements. Giving her space to breathe and be fleshed out only makes Sofia's journey that much better.
Like LeFranc explained, offering distractions to that would have only hurt Sofia's story.
However, with Magpie making the cut, it's hard not to wonder who else might have been in contention throughout the process.
Fans know that Joker is in Arkham already, but that is a story that will have to wait. Hopefully, The Batman: Part II will be kind enough to give Barry Keoghan's clown some more screen time––which is something Keoghan wants.
As for Harley, her role in Matt Reeves' universe remains unclear, as there is no indication that she even exists.
The series has alluded to other villains in the universe but has not shown them as well. The Riddler has been hinted at several times, including through a mysterious QR code, yet Paul Dano's The Batman serial killer has not appeared properly.
The closest thing the show has gotten to one of these nod-and-wink cameos came in Episode 5. Con O'Neill's GCPD Chief Mackenzie Brock arrived on the scene in The Penguin, reprising his role from The Batman with his iconic voice and all.
The Penguin is now streaming on Max.
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