Over the weekend, Colin Farrell was honored at the Screen Actors Guild Awards when he was named Best Actor in a TV movie or limited series for his role as the title character in The Penguin. However, Farrell is less than eager to reprise his part for a potential season 2, although he hasn’t entirely ruled it out.
“I don’t want it. I don’t not want it,” Farrell told Variety. “We all left it in the ring in those eight hours. I would hate to, just because of a quote-unquote success, have to go again and for it to be a diluted version of what people seem to feel it is… So I’m in no rush. I have no deep desire to do it… Sure, if they think of something that works in conjunction as a parallel to Matt Reeves’ cinematic universe and it’s a good idea, I’m open to it. But it’s not something concerning me.”
Farrell also recalled seeing The Penguin on the 1966 Batman live-action series, where the role was played by the late Meredith Burgess.
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“I was six, seven, eight or nine, watching Meredith Burgess as the Penguin on Batman,” recalled Farrell. “If you would have told that six, seven, or eight, nine-year-old, ‘You’re going to play that character someday. And you know the Michael Jackson Thriller video? You’re going to have the makeup done by a student of the guy, Rick Baker, who did that makeup on Michael Jackson.’ It’s just madness. So these moments are beautiful. I’m very grateful for them. And this show has been extraordinarily thrilling.”
Farrell will likely be back in makeup as Penguin in The Batman Part II, which was pushed back to October 1, 2027. DC Studios’ co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran recently indicated that writer and director Matt Reeves hasn’t finished the script for the sequel.
