Superhero cinema has been more under attack than ever in the last few years, with detractors arguing that it’s grown far too stale to be sustainable. And sure, Marvel has fired out a handful of duds, but when you still have movies like The Batman being made, there’s no way anybody should turn their back on caped blockbusters altogether. The 2022 epic from director Matt Reeves and starring Robert Pattinson set up a bold new Batman universe, and finally, the teaser trailer for The Penguin allows us to dip our toes in again.
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The Penguin teaser trailer is in
Created by Lauren LeFranc for HBO Max, The Penguin is an upcoming limited series that sees Colin Farrell reprise his Penguin role from The Batman.
That’s the classic villain name assigned to Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot, a crime boss, and the TV series will chronicle his rise to becoming a feared kingpin of Gotham’s criminal underworld.
The teaser trailer sets up a promising eight episodes to keep audiences tided over until the recently delayed The Batman II, which will now be opening on October 2nd 2026, instead of its previously announced 2025 release date.
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In terms of chronology, The Penguin is set to take place one week after the events that transpired in The Batman. However, when I watched the teaser, I and others were reminded more of another TV series than they were of the movie it’s actually spun off from…
The Penguin gives major Sopranos vibes
Before watching The Penguin, which is yet to receive a release date, you simply have to watch The Sopranos.
David Chase’s American crime drama ran for six seasons between 1999 and 2007, starring James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano, an Italian-American mobster who juggles leading a criminal crew with his family life.
There’s a reason it’s generally cited as one of the greatest achievements in TV history—it’s because it is, and for my money, it’s possibly the best show ever made.
When I saw The Batman, Oz reminded me of Tony a little, but in The Penguin teaser, the parallels and vibes are unignorable. It’s in his look and demeanor, and having the teaser keep cutting back to Oz speaking his mind in an office reminded me of Tony’s therapy sessions which flow throughout The Sopranos like a stream.
Straying away from the superhero and comic book elements of its predecessor, the teaser
sells audiences a straight-up crime drama, and fans of The Sopranos have been quick to pick up just how much the pair of shows share in common.
“This is my Sopranos,” one fan jokes, sharing a series of stills from the teaser that captures how similar they are. “The Sopranos but with Batman villains?” one asked on Twitter, “Yes please.”
“I’m 100% here for Batverse Sopranos,” another reinforced, with a comment on the trailer reading: “This looks like something straight out of The Sopranos but this time with Batman characters in it, and I’m all for it. I guess The Penguin never had the making of a varsity athlete.”
If you want to be in on that last joke, there’s only one thing for it—stream The Sopranos on Max. It’s life-changing TV.
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