Despite the massive changes being made to the DCU by Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Studios, Matt Reeves' The Batman franchise will live on. We don't know whether the filmmaker's ambitious plan for several villain-led HBO Max TV shows will come to fruition, but The Batman II has been confirmed, as has The Penguin.
The latter begins production this year and will see Colin Farrell reprise his role as "Oz" to fill in some of the gaps between The Batman movies as his villain rises to power in Gotham City's underworld.
Now, Variety is reporting that Michael Kelly, Shohreh Aghdashloo and Deirdre O'Connell have all been added to the HBO Max series in mystery roles. We're assuming they're probably playing characters from the comic books, but as Reeves continues to flesh out Gotham City's underworld, there's every chance they've been newly created for this story too.
Kelly is best known for starring in House of Cards and Jack Ryan. Aghdashloo has appeared in 24 and The Expanse, while O'Connell is a character actress who counts the likes of Daredevil and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind among her many credits.
The Penguin will consist of eight episodes, while Cristin Milioti and Rhenzy Feliz are among the show's other recent casting additions. Cameras will start rolling in New York City this month, so we can probably expect set photos in the coming weeks.
With the show set to lead directly into The Batman sequel, it's clearly going to be an important addition to the story Reeves is telling. "Oz" has beef with the Dark Knight and Jim Gordon, so the plan may well be to set the stage for The Penguin to serve as the next movie's big bad.
The Batman II is set to be released in theaters on October 3, 2025. The Penguin, meanwhile, will likely premiere on HBO Max sometime in 2024.
Who do you think this trio could be playing?
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