The first panel to begin the NYCC weekend is HBO’s The Penguin, as its cast and crew shared more details on the upcoming fifth episode. A few minutes before the beginning of the panel, NYCC shared an exclusive clip of the first five minutes of episode five, as fans looked excited yet concentrated on the events that unfolded in the clip.
Afterward, the cast and crew of The Penguin were presented on the stage, which included Colin Farrell (The Banshees Of Inisherin, The Batman), who portrays Oz Cobb/The Penguin, Cristin Milioti (Palm Springs, How I Met Your Mother), who portrays Sofia Falcone, Deirdre O’Connell (Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Dragonfly), who plays Francis Cobb, Rhenzy Feliz (Encanto, Runaways), who portrays Victor Aguilar, Michael Kelly (Chronicle, Man Of Steel), who plays Johnny Viti, Clancy Brown (Starship Troopers, Thor: Ragnarok), who portrays Sal Maroni, Mike Farino, who is the prosthetic makeup designer, and Lauren LeFranc (Impulse, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)., who is the showrunner and executive producer of the series.
As the panel continued, each cast member and crew explained their inspiration for the show, and how Farino prepared Farrell to turn him into The Penguin. First off, LeFranc said that Danny De Vito’s (Batman Returns, Taxi) Penguin was the one that inspired her the most, as Farrell shared a childhood anecdote, stating that he grew up watching the Batman show by Adam West (Family Guy, The Fairly OddParents) and especially Burgess Meredith (The Twilight Zone, Wet Gold), so he hopes his portrayal of The Penguin has made him proud. As for Farrell’s journey into becoming The Penguin, the actor shared that when Farino concluded adding the prosthetic makeup to his face, he thought he looked like “a puppeteer marionette.”
After the sneak peek of episode five was shown to the audience, the cast and crew came back on stage to share their thoughts on what is coming next for the continuation of the series. After being asked if the bonding between Oz and Victor will continue to evolve, Farrell explained that it will get deeper, because “Oz seems to trust him.” Furthermore, the cast was asked if other Batman villains spinoff series will be created. The cast jokingly shared that if they said anyone that wasn’t The Penguin, Oz would be mad at them, as the audience roared with laughter at that explanation.
At the end of the panel, the panelists exclusively revealed the mid-season trailer before releasing it worldwide via a press release an hour after the panel. The trailer, released in a press release right after the panel, is embedded below.
The Penguin is now available to stream on HBO as more episodes are on the way.