The Batman director Matt Reeves says they discussed having Robert Pattinson in The Penguin, but ultimately turned it down

New spin-off series The Penguin may be an offshoot from The Batman, but don’t expect Robert Pattinson’s Dark Knight to make an appearance. However, Matt Reeves, director of the original film and executive producer on The Penguin, says they did consider it. 

“I’m a point-of-view filmmaker,” he tells Total Film in our new issue out on Thursday, September 12, which features The Penguin on the cover. “When I’m doing a Batman story, Batman and Bruce is going to be the main point of view. To explore the rogues gallery, they could never get the real estate we can do in a series. So Batman is in this [show] only as a sense that he’s a presence. You’re aware that all of these events began because of the Riddler, but the Riddler doesn’t appear and Batman doesn’t appear.”

When pushed if Bruce Wayne might appear, Reeves explains that they did consider it briefly. It would have made some sense given that in The Batman it was revealed that many people were involved in the Gotham Renewal Program that Bruce’s late father, Thomas Wayne, had set up. Perhaps then Bruce might have had a part to play in the reconfiguration of Gotham’s underworld? 

Reeves, a rapid talker, takes a breath. “Rob is not going to be in the show,” he states. “I’d rather take the Band-Aid off now. We did talk about all that but we felt the best way to do this was to go on a grand exploration of a guy grabbing for power in this moment.”

That’s exactly what The Penguin does. Set in the aftermath of the flood in Gotham, caused by The Riddler, Colin Farrell’s Oz Cobb makes a stab for power. However, he soon finds out he’ll have to contend with Cristin Milioti’s Sofia Falcone, newly released from Arkham State Hospital. 

The Penguin is released on September 20 on NOW and Sky in the UK and September 19 in the US on HBO Max. 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, September 12.

Check out the covers below:

(Image credit: Sky/HBO/Total Film)

Subscribers have the exclusive text-free cover on the way to them right now, with the issue then hitting shops and digital newsstands on Thursday 12 September.

(Image credit: Sky/HBO/Warner Bros/Disney/20th Century Studios/Prime Video)