It’s impressive how little The Penguin cares about being a Batman show. In fact, one might wonder why it even bothers. This is a show that clearly prefers the mafia canon to the comic-book one, a thinly veiled excuse to do Scarface in Gotham City,

Score Details “HBO's The Penguin is the rare franchise spinoff that manages to stand on its own, thanks in no small part to Cristin Milioti and Colin Farrell's volatile lead performances.

That’s twice now, for filmmaker and producer Matt Reeves. First he directed “The Batman,” the 2022 Batman movie we didn’t know we needed. Now, as executive producer, he has handed off the creative chores to others for “The Penguin,