The Penguin Rumored for Main Villain in Matt Reeves ‘The Batman’

June 1, 2018June 1, 2018 Brad Repka

The Batman is a film that is in turmoil. First reports surfaced that Ben Affleck (Justice League, Argo) was taking the director’s chair for the first stand-alone Batman movie in the DCEU. Then came a number of reports that Affleck was unhappy with the direction of the script and approach of the studio. He stepped down from the role of director, and for a while, it seemed that he would leave the role of Batman altogether.

Affleck was planning to use Deathstroke as the main protagonist in his film and even cast Joe Manganiello in the role. Warner Bros. signed on director Matt Reeves (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) to take over, and the entire project seems in flux, with Reeves stating that he would rewrite the entire script himself. With Reeves keeping things hush-hush about his direction and the script for the film, little details have emerged.

Now, a new report by Variety’s Justin Kroll suggests that Oswald Cobblepot (a.k.a. The Penguin) is under considerations for the role of lead villain in either Reeves The Batman or the Harley Quinn-led spin-off Birds of Prey. According to Kroll:

Batman: Arkham City, Rocksteady Studios — Image: Rocksteady Studios

“Take this with a grain of salt as things are constantly changing in the DCEU but I’m hearing the Penguin is possibly the choice to play the main villain in THE BATMAN. Sources add even if Reeves decide to go another route the studio could then make him the main villain in BOP. Reeves is still working on the script, so that could always change but of the multiple BIRDS OF PREY scripts submitted, one does have the Penguin as the main heavy. Either way, it seems WB wants this character cast in the universe sooner rather then later.”

This suggests that Reeves isn’t very far along with his script for The Batman, or it could mean that the script doesn’t rely on the villain as much as we would expect.

Josh Gad (Frozen) is still rumored to take on the role of the Penguin, wherever he may land. The last time he was seen on the big screen was in 1992s Batman Returns portrayed by Danny DeVito. The portrayal was amazing and showed a version of the character that was more carnal than previous iterations.