"I Was Spoiled Rotten" [Exclusive]

Colin Farrell has become synonymous with the character of The Penguin since Matt Reeves‘ film The Batman in 2022. The movie led to a spin-off series on HBO called The Penguin with Farrell starring as Oz Cobb, the Penguin of Gotham. While many have questioned whether we’ll see a Season 2 of the award-winning series, the next installment of Reeves’ Gotham might be where we see Farrell next. The script for The Batman — Part II is finished, and one question is on our mind: Is the script going to do justice to Oz and the growth we saw for the character (for better or worse) in The Penguin?

Collider’s Perri Nemiroff recently spoke with Farrell for his upcoming movie, The Ballad of a Small Player, and naturally, she had to ask about Farrell’s experience in Reeves’ Batman universe. Nemiroff asked, “When the script for The Batman 2 came your way, what is something about it that made you say to yourself, ‘I have something to gain from returning to this role as an actor who is always looking to evolve my craft and challenge myself in new ways?'”

Farrell explained that he wasn’t sure if he ever got “all that from anything, ever,” but that being a part of Reeves’ Gotham was something special to him. He went on to say:

“I love that world. I mean, I loved it as a fan of film since Batman ‘66. I grew up watching that, and Burgess Meredith was my first Penguin, and then Danny DeVito was my second Penguin. Then Chris Nolan‘s work, of course, was extraordinary in that universe. But to see how Matt [Reeves] has re-envisioned a world that’s unique enough and still honors the struggles of that city and the psychological struggles of the character of Bruce Wayne, and Batman, and who is the shadow of who — is Bruce Wayne the real guy, or is Batman? Just to be part of that world… Honestly, just to be in something that takes place in Gotham, where a character called Bruce Wayne and Batman exist, is such a joy for me.”

It Is More About the Cast Than the Growth for Colin Farrell

Colin Farrell as Oz Cobb frowning and looking at someone in 'The Penguin' — Colin Farrell as Oz Cobb in ‘The Penguin’

Farrell went on to talk about how he was “spoiled” with The Penguin and growing Oz over the course of the eight-episode series, but that with The Batman II, it is more about the people he gets to work with on this journey. Like Robert Pattinson‘s Bruce Wayne and Jeffrey Wright‘s Commissioner Gordon. “So, it’s less about ‘what can I do.’ I was spoiled rotten with eight hours on HBO. It’s less of ‘what can I do with this,’ and more just to be in that world and be around Robert and be around Jeffrey again, and be led by Matt Reeves. It’s something I’m really excited about again, just to be around it.”

You can see Farrell in the HBO series The Penguin and catch him in The Ballad of a Small Player in theaters on October 29.