When the news broke that Colin Farrell had been cast as The Penguin in The Batman, a lot of fans weren't exactly thrilled. It's not as if the actor looks anything like the comic book version of the iconic villain, but thanks to makeup and a transformative performance, he nailed it.
The Irish actor will reprise the role in his own streaming spin-off later this year, The Penguin, and recently caught up with MovieWeb to discuss his role in Sugar.
During their conversation, Farrell opened up on his favourite characters in the wider Batman franchise.
"My favorite Batman actors or movie...I mean, Heath. Heath takes it, you know," he said of the late actor who played The Joker in The Dark Knight. Farrell then added, "I mean, I don't want to sit on the fence, but I've enjoyed so many of them. I love Jack [Nicholson] as well as the Joker."
"And these characters of lore are so well-designed initially that they just withstand. It was like, Christian Bale was asked a question, I saw once, about the new Batman that was coming and about Robert [Pattinson] playing Batman, and Christian said something along the lines of, and I paraphrase, that these characters, they survive and they invite multiple interpretations."
"And I love Danny [DeVito] of course, as the Penguin. I grew up watching Tim Burton's films," Farrell noted. "But I go back with the show as well, to Adam West and Burgess Meredith, the first Penguin I ever saw. You know, there are so many of them, who my favorite is, I don't know."
As for the best Batman, he chose his words carefully after sharing the screen with Robert Pattinson, but admitted, "I have a soft spot for Michael Keaton because I was like, maybe 10 or 11 or 12 when I saw that, and I was just obsessed with it, you know?"
Despite continued talk of "superhero fatigue," Farrell would go on to compare superheroes to the Greek Gods of our times and concluded by calling them "aspirational and questionable."
The Penguin stars Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz, Michael Kelly, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Deirdre O'Connell, Clancy Brown, and Michael Zegen.
The eight-episode DC Studios drama series continues The Batman epic crime saga that filmmaker Matt Reeves began with Warner Bros. Pictures’ global blockbuster The Batman, and centres on the character played by Farrell in the film.
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.
The Penguin premieres on Max this fall, while The Batman II recently moved to October 2, 2026.