The Penguin’s SDCC panels hints at how the series is handling the Batman

polygon.com:

We’re a little more than a month out from the premiere of The Penguin, HBO’s live-action crime drama set in the universe of Matt Reeves’ 2022 film The Batman. Showrunner Lauren LeFranc, executive producer Dylan Clark, and Reeves attended San Diego Comic-Con and took to the stage on Saturday alongside stars Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, and Rhenzy Feliz to talk about the production behind the upcoming series.

Set approximately a week after the events of The Batman, the series sees Farrell reprising his role as Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot, the former right hand lieutenant of crime boss Carmine Falcone. With Falcone dead and Gotham City flooded in the aftermath of the Riddler’s attack, The Penguin centers on Oz’s plot to seize control over the remains of his boss’ criminal empire from Sofia Falcone (Milioti), Falcone’s daughter and heir apparent.

LeFranc’s series serves as the connective tissue between Reeves’ 2022 film and the forthcoming The Batman – Part II, which is scheduled to begin filming next year, so naturally the most obvious question, apart from how exactly Oz rises to power, is simple. Just what is Batman up to during this whole turf war between Cobblepot and Sofia Falcone?

During the panel, Lefranc stated “The Batman’s up high looking down on Gotham and Oz is in the streets in the grit and the grime.” In addition, she also described The Penguin as a series that has no heroes, only complicated characters.

The last time audiences saw Robert Pattinson’s Batman, he had parted ways with Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz), having re-committed himself to saving Gotham City and vowing to inspire hope in its citizens as they struggle to rebuild. While the series’ creators were cagey as to whether or not the Dark Knight himself would make an appearance at some point in The Penguin, Matt Reeves did confirm that Cobblepot himself would return in The Batman — Part II.

Then again, as Batman said in the opening of Reeves’ film, Gotham’s a big place; he can’t be everywhere all at once.