It may have seemed like a strange and maybe even foolish choice to make an entire spin-off series to The Batman focused on Colin Farrell’s Oswald Cobblepot. Farrell is only in the movie for a few key scenes, and crucially, he doesn’t exactly resemble the handsome Irish movie star Farrell usually appears on screen as.
Now, The Penguin is on the verge of arriving on Max, and the first reviews for the new series have been released. Those reviews have been generally positive, with many suggesting that the show feels more like a gangster series than something set in the world of The Batman. They’ve also had praise for Farrell and Cristin Milioti, who plays Sofia Falcone in the film.
Some reviews, though, have pointed out Batman’s absence from the story, or wondered about whether we even needed a Penguin series to begin with. Here’s what they say:
The Hollywood Reporter wasn’t very impressed, calling the show “an accelerated clash that rushes through three or four seasons of plot in these eight episodes.”
Their fellow trade publication, Variety, was more generous to the series calling it a “masterful examination of criminality, the show is twisted, disturbing and deeply enthralling.”
Entertainment Weekly said the show was somewhat successful, but added that “viewers may be left wondering around the fifth or sixth episode of this eight-part series, ‘Wait, why am I watching a show about the Penguin again?’”
Total Film, meanwhile, singles out one specific performer even as they praise the show as a whole. “More gangster saga than comic book adaptation, The Penguin is a fresh take on its titular villain, but it’s Cristin Milioti who really shines as the brutal and captivating Sofia Falcone.”
Rolling Stone was less positive, though, saying that whatever story the show was trying to tell “it needs to tell a much more interesting version of one, with a more compelling protagonist, than what we get here.”
