The Penguin arrives this week on HBO, expanding the gritty criminal world of Matt Reeves. The Batman film into a spin-off series centered on Colin Farrell’s villainous character. Although his rogues gallery moniker remains the same, the Penguin’s real name was changed in the 2022 film to Oswald Cobblepot, his name since his birth in 1941. Detective comics debut, to “Oz Cobb.” We finally have some details about why that happened.
As reported in SFX Magazine (via Comic book movie), “Oz Cobb” shouldn’t be taken to mean the character shortened his last name, which is kind of ridiculous. This guy is Oz Cobb, period. Speaking to the magazine, producer Dylan Clark explained what happened, first pointing to a previous name change for a Batman villain as precedent. “They never went around changing his name in the comics like they did with the Riddler, going from Edward Nigma to Edward Nashton, from an unreal name to a real name. By doing that, they gave the character stability,” Clark said.
The Penguin The team received what sounds like an enthusiastic thumbs-up from DC Comics boss Jim Lee. “They had thought about changing the name at some point, but they had never done it. Matt asked, ‘Can I call our character Oz Cobb?’ And Jim said, ‘Absolutely!’ So we got the blessing from the king himself. That little name change allowed us to look at this character in a more realistic way.”
Lauren LeFranc, The Penguin The showrunner and creator explained that, as The BatmanThe show is “creating a new canon,” bringing its own flavor to familiar characters. “It felt like in the Gotham City that Matt created in his movie, Cobblepot seemed less like a real person, in the same way that Cobb is a real last name. He’s a gangster and it just seemed more right.”
“Cobb” may sound a little higher pitched, but isn’t that really the case? further Is it scary to have a ruthless guy standing behind you who answers “Cobblepot”?
DC Comics fans will learn a lot more about Farrell’s breakout character when The Penguinwhich also stars Cristin Milioti (as Sofia Falcone), Rhenzy Feliz (as Victor Aguilar), Michael Kelly (as Johnny Viti), Shohreh Aghdashloo (as Nadia Maroni), Deirdre O’Connell (as Francis Cobb), Clancy Brown (as Salvatore Maroni), James Madio (as Milos Grapa), Scott Cohen (as Luca Falcone), Michael Zegen (as Alberto Falcone), Carmen Ejogo (as Eve Karlo) and Theo Rossi (as Dr. Julian Rush), arrives on HBO September 19.
Want more news from io9? Find out when the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases are coming out, what’s new in the DC Universe’s film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.