Cristin Milioti (The Wolf of Wall Street, Palm Springs) is making her return to HBO Max opposing Colin Farrell (S.W.A.T., Horrible Bosses) as the female lead in the DC original limited drama series with the working title of The Penguin, according to Deadline. The Penguin is a spinoff of The Batman by Matt Reeves (Let Me In, War for the Planet of the Apes).
Milioti is playing Sofia Falcone, the daughter of Carmine Falcone. Sofia, in the series, is fighting with The Penguin, being played by Farrell, for control of the city.
This HBO Max series follows Penguin’s rise to power in Gotham’s criminal underworld, according to ComicBook. This Penguin-centric series will mark the second time this character’s story is precisely investigated in live-action television.
“The Penguin starts about a week after the film The Batman ends. So Gotham is still somewhat underwater,” Farrell disclosed to Extra in an interview. “I read the first script for the first episode, and it opens up with my feet splashing through the water in Falcone’s office. Even just that alone, I read it, I was like, ‘Oh, jeez.’ It’s lovely. It’s so well-written.”
The Penguin is based on the characters created for DC by Bob Kane (Batman, The Dark Knight) and Bill Finger (Justice League, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice). This HBO Max series is produced by Reeves’ 6th & Idaho Productions and Dylan Clark Productions in connection with Warner Bros. Television. The Penguin is executive produced by Reeves, Farrell, Lauren LeFranc (Impulse, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), who writes and serves as showrunner, Craig Zobel (Great World of Sound, Z for Zachariah), who directs the first two episodes, and Dylan Clark (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Oblivion). Daniel Pipski (Ticket to Paradise, A Teacher) also serves as executive producer, and Rafi Crohn (Let Me In, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) serves as the co-executive producer.
“We are thrilled to bring audiences a new version of this iconic DC character that they have never seen before. It is incredible to be working with Matt, Dylan, and Lauren on continuing this story and to see Colin take his already exceptional performance in The Batman to the next level,” exclaimed Sarah Aubrey, Head of Original Content at HBO Max, according to TV Fanatic.