HBO Max announced that Rhenzy Feliz (Marvel’s Runaways) will be joining the network’s original series The Penguin, via Deadline. Feliz will star opposite of Colin Farrell (The Batman, Saving Mr. Banks) and Cristin Milioti (Palm Springs, The Wolf of Wall Street). Also joining the cast of this limited series is Michael Kelly (House of Cards, Jack Ryan), Shohreh Aghdashloo (Arcane, The Promise) and Deirdre O’Connel (The Requin, The Boy Downstairs), via Variety.
Specific details about Feliz’s character have not officially been revealed but he is believed to be playing a teen whom The Penguin (Farrell) befriends and makes his driver. Character details for Kelly, Aghdashloo, and O’Connel have not been announced yet either. Production on The Penguin is set to begin this month in New York.
In the Batman comics, The Penguin is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as a nemesis of the superhero Batman. Farrell’s version of the character is a criminal with big ambitions that strives to gain the power over Gotham City’s underworld. Farrell previously gave some information about what the show will focus on, but the overall character of The Penguin is “grounded, gritty and very real” according to MovieWeb .Farrell underwent dramatic physical transformation to become the character. In a video from Culture Crave on Twitter, Farrell is seen in the makeup chair turning into the character, detailing the process taking up to four hours, describing the process as “one of the most exciting, jubilant experiences” that he has ever had.
The series is being executive produced by Reeves (The Batman, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), Dylan Clark (The Heat, Let it Snow) and Farrell. Lauren LeFranc (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Impulse) will write and serves as showrunner.
Matt Reeves and Warner Bros Pictures’ The Batman is now streaming on HBO Max.