Theo Rossi's Dr. Julian Rush quickly emerged as one of The Penguin's most intriguing supporting characters; he was also a complete creep and someone with a weird, unhealthy infatuation with his former - and, as it happened, current - Arkham patient, Sofia Falcone.
Rush was an original creation for the series and, contrary to online theories, wasn't ultimately revealed as Dr. Hugo Strange. However, evidence later surfaced (which you can see below) suggesting he was either meant to be Dr. Jonathan Crane or at least someone with close ties to Scarecrow.
The Penguin's fourth episode - "Cent'Anni" - featured both Scarecrow's mask and his syringe glove on two stands.
Given the obvious similarities between Bliss and Scarecrow's fear drug, could The Batman 2 reveal that Crane is secretly working in Arkham under the fake moniker of "Julian Rush"? Unfortunately, the popular suggestion has just been debunked by showrunner Lauren LeFranc.
Talking to Screen Rant at the Golden Globes yesterday evening, she responded, "Well, I can say he's not the Scarecrow."
That's the end of that then! Regardless, a new take on Scarecrow would be fitting for The Batman 2 given Gotham City's drug problems. The last time we saw the villain on the big screen was in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy where he was played by Cillian Murphy.
We've already shared one big update about The Penguin season 2 with you today and, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, filmmaker Matt Reeves shared, "Well, we are talking about doing another season. Lauren and Dylan and I and Colin are talking about what we would do and it's really about coming up with the right idea and also about the timing. We're doing The Batman Part II so it's about how all that fits together."
With Rush and Sofia reunited in Arkham, we'd imagine the twisted psychiatrist will be a big part of whatever comes next...
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, 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.
All episodes of The Penguin are now streaming on Max.