The Penguin showrunner says she saw the show as an opportunity to evolve the crime genre with more complex female characters

Upcoming The Batman spin-off The Penguin isn’t just set to expand and develop director Matt Reeves’ vision of Gotham City – it’s also making its mark on the crime genre.

“Very few women have been able to write these kinds of movies or television shows,” showrunner Lauren LeFranc tells Total Film in our new issue out on Thursday, August 15, which features Beetlejuice Beetlejuice on the cover.

“I think my perspective on Oz, and masculinity in general, is different. And that made me also want to surround him with really interesting, complicated women [Cristin Milioti plays Carmine’s daughter Sofia, aka Hangman, making her own play for power when she’s released from Arkham Asylum]. In traditional crime dramas, rarely are the women as interesting as the men. So I took this as an opportunity to see what had been done before me, to respect and honor the genre, and then to also evolve it.”

Described as an “epic crime saga”, the show will chart the rise of Oz Cobb, AKA Penguin (Colin Farrell), who you can see below in our exclusive image.

(Image credit: Macall Polay/HBO/Sky)

After the death of kingpin Carmine Falcone (John Turturro) at the hands of the Riddler in The Batman, it’s all to play for in Gotham City’s organized crime scene, and Oz is up against Carmine’s own flesh and blood in the form of Sofia Falcone. The series picks up shortly after the events of the 2022 movie, with Reeves on board as an executive producer. 

Pre-order the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice issue of Total Film

The Penguin is released on September 19. And you can read more about it and a whole lot else besides in the new issue of Total Film when it hits shelves and digital newsstands on Thursday, August 15.

Check out the covers below:

(Image credit: Martin Schoeller/Total Film/Cover Art Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures)

Pre-order the issue here to bag your copy or click here to subscribe to Total Film and never miss another exclusive. You’ll get every issue before it’s in stores and you’ll get subscriber-exclusive covers. 

(Image credit: Total Film/Warner Bros/Disney/Marvel Studios/20th Century Studios/Amazon)