RUFFLING FEATHERS

Batman's notorious nemesis gets his own series starring an unrecognisable

- Colin Farrell

The Penguin Friday, 9pm, Sky Atlantic

When it comes to the great supervillains of TV and film, not many are more iconic than Batman's arch-enemy the Penguin.

Several actors have played the Dark Knight's long-time adversary over the years, but few have captured the attention of fans of the DC Universe more than Colin Farrell's standout - and unrecognisable - portrayal in the 2022 film The Batman.

Featuring in just six scenes in that movie, the character - real name Oswald 'Oz' Cobb - is getting his own time to shine in Sky Atlantic's new eight-part series The Penguin.

'I loved playing the character in the film for those scenes - he's all flash and pizzazz as raconteur and proprietor of [the Iceberg Lounge] nightclub, reveals Farrell, 48. 'But this series really got to look under the hood of the character and get into his backstory.

Indeed, this next chapter in the Batman saga picks up one week after events in The Batman and finds Gotham City in turmoil, following the death of crime lord Carmine Falcone and explores the transformation of the Penguin from a disfigured nobody with a waddlelike limp to a notorious gangster.