The Batman Trailer Reveals Unrecognizable Colin Farrell as The Penguin

Did you know that Colin Farrell is in The Batman trailer as legendary Batman villain the Penguin? No, seriously…he is. You just might have missed him since he looks absolutely nothing like Colin Farrell in it.

The Batman director Matt Reeves is pretty clear about the fact that the man who will one day be known and feared as the Penguin is still just Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot, and not quite yet the legendary Gotham villain. In fact, the movie will be quietly telling origin stories for many of Batman’s rogues gallery.

“Oz is not yet the kingpin that he’s going to become,” Reeves said at DC FanDome. “He’s the Penguin, in fact, doesn’t like being called the Penguin.”

To be fair, who WOULD, right?

Farrell’s Gotham crime boss shows up at 1:18 in the trailer, again at 1:26, and one more time at 1:54. He is equally unrecognizable each time thanks to a spectacular makeup job.

But far from the rubbery, cartoonish horror show makeup that obscured Danny DeVito’s visage in Tim Burton’s Batman Returns, Farrell’s Penguin makeup is more about putting some extra weight on the actor, and revealing some mysterious scars on his face as well. He does have the Penguin’s trademark nose, though.

Check him out…

Still, you probably shouldn’t expect to see too much of the future Penguin in The Batman, a movie that already has its hands full introducing Robert Pattinson as a new Bruce Wayne, Paul Dano as a creepy and serial killer-esque Riddler, and Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman.

“I have a certain amount in the film. I am not all over it by any means,” Farrell said in an interview with GMA back in May. “But there are a couple of some tasty scenes I have in it and my creation and I can’t wait to get back. Yeah, I totally feel like it is something that I have not had the opportunity to explore before. It feels original and fun. But I am only at the start of the journey so I can’t wait to get back and really get into it.”

But with The Batman apparently the start of a planned trilogy of films, this leaves plenty of room for Farrell’s Cobblepot to assume the role of Gotham City crime boss in a future movie. And the idea of Farrell leading the character into a more grounded, realistic take than any we’ve ever had on the big screen is an appealing one.

The Batman opens on Oct. 1, 2021. The full schedule of upcoming DC superhero movies can be found here.