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The Batman Villain TV Show I Desperately Want More Than The Penguin Season 2

Umito November 15, 2024

Spoilers below for those who still haven’t finished watching The Penguin on HBO or streaming with a Maximum subscriptionso be warned!

I didn’t doubt it The Penguin would be a superbly enjoyable spin-off of Matt Reeves‘ The Batmanbut somehow I still didn’t expect the series to become one of my absolute favorites in the middle of the TV schedule 2024while temporarily placing Colin Farrell’s Oz Cobb a rung higher than Batman himself in my mind. From its flooded beginnings to its end of skyscraper, with that damn Bat Signal, The Penguin I sometimes achieved pure perfection, and immediately demanded more.

However, with time to sit down and reflect on everything that has happened Penguinthe final, I decided on my initial Season 2 Hopes and Dreams were misguided, and that Oz doesn’t deserve to return to the spotlight after hurting Vic so much. At the moment, it’s completely unclear what the future of this character will be, beyond appearing in what Farrell says will be a handful of scenes in Matt Reeves The Batman Part IIwhich will not arrive until October 2026.

Given this giant hiatus, it would make much more sense for Reeves and HBO to explore the history and daily life of a completely different villain with a standalone TV show. I mean, I would have picked Cristin Milioti’s Sofia Falcone if she hadn’t already been as stunning to watch as Farrell’s prosthetic performance. So here’s the big bad I’d most like to see shake up prime time television.

Scarecrow talking to Batman in the video game Arkham Knight

(Image credit: Rocksteady Games)

I want a show based on the Scarecrow himself, Dr. Jonathan Crane

To put it straight away, the main thing that goes against this idea is that The Scarecrow has already been featured in a variety of different formats, including animation and live action Batman movies. Before winning the Oscar for Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy portrayed psychiatrist Jonathan Crane and his alarmist alter ego Scarecrow in Christopher NolanIt is Dark Knight trilogy, while others played the role in Gotham And Titans. In the meantime, The Mary Tyler Moore ShowIt’s Ted Knight and FuturamaJohn DiMaggio of are among dozens of people who have voiced the villain over the years.

But to me it simply reads: “The Scarecrow is a character worth exploring and evolving.” » On that second point, Crane and his fear toxin are only used in short bursts of nightmarish hellscapes most of the time when he is at his most threatening. But the idea of a slow-burn psychological thriller turning into hallucinogenic horror sounds like cutting-edge television to yours truly. (Extra points if Hugo Strange is also involved.)

In the same way that showrunner Lauren LeFranc used The Penguin to put a microscopic focus on Oz Cobb’s depthless selfishness and self-delusions, a Scarecrow series could focus not only on Crane’s greatest fears (including bats, obviously), but also to those of the other inhabitants of Gotham City, particularly within the walls of Arkham Asylum. And what better way to tap into the characters’ twisted psyches than through surreal hallucinations and thrilling visuals?

Instead of being a full origin story, the main arc of the series could follow the development of the fear toxin from its humble, small-scale beginnings to the revolutionary concoction it would brew that would theoretically attract Batman’s attention all the way. . Where the visuals and Crane’s connection to reality both become more detached and bizarre.

There would probably be emotional arcs and other issues involved, but I would imagine a Scarecrow the series are as original as FX and Marvel Legionwith Dan Stevens And Place Aubrey. What The Penguin must to The SopranosA Scarecrow the series could be due to an overexposed VHS version of Fear and disgust with Requiem for a dream recorded on it.

Screenshot of Eve Karlo crying while talking to Sofia in episode 6 of The Penguin

(Image credit: Max)

But I’d also like to see Carmen Ejogo’s Eve Karlo become Lady Clayface

Not that HBO would need to incorporate a character that doesn’t already exist The Batmanthe extended universe of. If push came to shove, I might be just as attracted to a Penguin spin-off focused on Carmen Ejogo’s Eve Karlo. After all, it hasn’t been explained why she shares the same comical last name as Basil Karlo, better known as Clayface.

While it’s easy to assume that the name choice is more of a thematic nod than an allusion to the character experiencing bodily changes in the future, it would be great to see this character explored over a longer timeline than ‘a simple robbery. And it’s not like it would completely deviate from the source material, since there have been several female Clayfaces.

However The Penguin doesn’t play the Clayface card much, Eve is a woman who adapts and changes to appease her clients, to the point where she was a fairly useful stand-in for Oz’s mother, Francis, as he fell into the waters Oedipals in the last scene of the finale. Even though his body doesn’t physically change shape, the core of the idea is definitely there.

Perhaps Eve’s life before becoming a companion in Gotham’s underworld involved an attempt to become a Hollywood celebrity, similar to Basil Karlo’s pre-goo comic origin. And perhaps this version of the character would maintain the more grounded realism of this live-action universe, and instead of having unnatural abilities, Eve becomes others by taking on their faces and skin.

Sure, Eve seems like a level-headed person, and the only way I could see her becoming a major villain in Gotham City would be to get revenge on Oz for everything she learned about him from Sofia. I have no doubt in my mind that this thought was gnawing at her brain as she put on Francis’ dress and jewelry. But without Oz to target, there’s less reason for Clayface’s instincts to kick in.

While we’re at it, let’s go ahead and greenlight a Two-Face TV series that brings a whole new take on courtroom dramas, and doesn’t wait until the very end of the season to throw acid at it in the face and take him away. on the dark side. Just don’t expect one Catwoman seriesbecause HBO boss Casey Bloys has already rejected the idea.

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The Batman Villain TV Show I Desperately Want More Than The Penguin Season 2

Umito

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The Batman Villain TV Show I Desperately Want More Than The Penguin Season 2

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