The first episode of The Penguin premiered last night and, as we're sure you'll agree, it was fantastic. The 10-day wait for the second chapter of this eight-part crime epic won't be easy, though we do at least have a new trailer looking at what's to come in the weeks ahead.
There are plenty of intriguing hints at where this story is headed, but if one thing is clear, it's that Oz Cobb's rise to power in Gotham City will not be easy.
Max has also dropped a six-minute featurette which takes us behind the scenes of "After Hours" and includes interviews with showrunner Lauren LeFranc, executive producer Lauren LeFranc, and star Colin Farrell. You can find our recap of the episode here.
Talking of the latter, he recently spoke to ComicBook.com at The Batman spin-off's world premiere and weighed in on the Caped Crusader's absence in the series.
"He's not thinking about The Bat at all," Farrell explained. "I'm sure maybe there's a scene we did, a night where he's wondering is that guy gonna turn up, but there's so much sh*t happening to him already that the immediate present is something that he's struggling with greatly."
"As much as I had some version of a tet-a-tet with him in the film, he's not what he is becoming evermore, and will possibly, I assume, become more of in the second film," Farrell added. "Oz has other things on his mind, [that being] the immediate present as experienced by how he's tainted by his past."
"He's very, very focused on the now. He has to be because he's someone who's got so many plates juggling, so many plates in the air. They're all spinning out of control and he's trying to keep his sh*t together. He's trying to create this ideal of filling the power vacuum that Carmine Falcone's death has created."
It's as good an explanation as any and only time will tell whether The Penguin soars without Batman or the Dark Knight being busy elsewhere will become a distraction for viewers.
Check out that new trailer and featurette below.
The Penguin's cast includes Colin Farrell (Oz Cobblepot), Cristin Milioti (Sofia Falcone), Rhenzy Feliz (Victor Aguilar), Michael Kelly (Johnny Viti), Shohreh Aghdashloo (Nadia Maroni), Deirdre O’Connell (Francis Cobb), Clancy Brown (Salvatore Maroni), James Madio (Milos Grapa), Scott Cohen (Luca Falcone), Michael Zegen (Alberto Falcone), Carmen Ejogo (Eve Karlo), and Theo Rossi (Dr. Julian Rush).
The series is executive produced by Matt Reeves, Dylan Clark, Colin Farrell, Lauren LeFranc, who writes and serves as showrunner, Craig Zobel, who directs the first three episodes, and Bill Carraro.
Based on characters created for DC by Bob Kane with Bill Finger, The Penguin is produced by Reeves' 6th & Idaho Productions and Dylan Clark Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, where Reeves and 6th & Idaho are under an overall deal. Daniel Pipski also serves as executive producer.
The Penguin premieres on HBO and Max on September 19.