Robert Pattinson is rumored to appear as Batman in HBO Max's upcoming The Penguin TV show. Matt Reeves rebooted the Batman franchise in 2022 with Pattinson starring as the latest incarnation of the Dark Knight. While not an origin story, The Batman followed Bruce in his second year as a crime fighter. However, Reeves is only getting started with The Batman universe as he is working on several spinoff projects. One of the offshoots in the works is The Penguin, with Colin Farrell reprising the role of Oswald Cobblepot. The DC TV show is set to premiere on HBO Max, with Reeves as an executive producer on it.
With The Penguin being interconnected with The Batman franchise, the question of whether or not the Caped Crusader will show up has been raised for some time. Now, it appears Pattinson may, in fact, be lined up to appear in the show. During a recent episode of The Hot Mic, Jeff Sneider revealed he heard that Batman will be in The Penguin. At the time of this report's publication, Warner Bros. TV, HBO Max, or anyone involved with The Penguin series has not commented on the story. Sneider said:
Word is that Pattinson is going to appear in the Penguin series.
How Batman Could Fit Into The Penguin Show's Story
Since The Penguin season 1 will have six episodes, time will tell if Pattinson is slated for only one episode or potentially more. Thus far, very few details about The Penguin show have been revealed as HBO Max is keeping a lot under wraps. Outside of casting new characters, story details are slim to none. According to Farrell, it will take place only a week after the events of The Batman.
With that in mind, it feels safe to say that both Batman and Penguin will have their hands full on their respective sides. While Bruce is likely continuing to help out in the city, The Penguin will show how Oswald continues to live in the criminal world after The Riddler's actions. Depending on what storyline they are setting up for Oswald, the way Batman could fit in is if they, at some point, have a common obstacle or villain. It would be hard to imagine that Oswald and Bruce would cross paths more than once in the show.
While it remains to be seen how The Penguin show will do, it's still fascinating to see Reeves flesh out The Batman universe. As DC Studios gets ready to roll out the new DC Universe, having this other continuity that's featured on both the big and small screens is tapping into some great potential. With so many characters that exist in Batman's canon, there will be plenty of stories to tell across movies and shows for years to come. Hopefully, as the year goes on, Pattinson's potential Batman return in The Penguin will be addressed sooner rather than later.
Source: The Hot Mic with Jeff Sneider and John Rocha
