Yesterday, The Batman star John Turturro revealed that he'd declined to reprise his role as Carmine Falcone in the HBO series because it features "a lot of violence towards women, and that's not my thing."
He'd add that it "happens off-screen [in The Batman]," though it took little time for DC fans to point out his apparent hypocrisy. Not only is The Penguin's Carmine far less violent than the one seen in The Batman, but Turturro's version violently attacked and choked Selina Kyle during the movie's final act.
Now, The Penguin showrunner Lauren LeFranc has responded to Turturro's comments - as diplomatically as possible - in an interview with The Wrap.
"I completely respect an actor who doesn’t want to take on a role for whatever their personal reasons," LeFranc started. "I only want people to join our show who are excited and want to further the story we’re trying to tell. I think Mark Strong did a really fantastic job. He made the character his own and also really honored what John Turturro did."
"To my knowledge it was due to scheduling conflicts," she added.
As you might expect, though, LeFranc did take some exceptions with Turturro's insinuation that The Penguin is far more violent in its depiction towards women than The Batman was.
"Carmine in the movie killed Selina Kyle’s mother and then does try to actively kill Selina, and also kills Annika - Selina’s friend," LeFranc said. "I think it’s been established, and Matt and I are in agreement on this, that Carmine’s a very violent man and has a violent streak against women."
Ironically, after the actor said it's "scarier" for violence to happen off-screen, The Penguin's flashback episode does exactly that, revealing that Carmine killed several women and that he framed his daughter, Sofia, as Gotham City's Hangman without showing the villain on a killing spree.
Mark Strong replaced Turturro as a slightly younger version of the mobster and has been widely praised for his work in The Batman spin-off. Carmine died at the hands of The Riddler in the movie so won't be back for The Batman Part II.
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 first five episodes of The Penguin are now streaming on Max.