The Batman story continues, with Colin Farrell's The Penguin now given his own gritty, Gotham-set series

Ever since 1997's Batman & Robin was sentenced to movie jail for its crimes of high camp, the caped crusader has increasingly courted older superhero fans. Following directly from Matt Reeves's 2022 reboot The Batman – itself a riff on David Fincher's serial killer procedural Seven – The Penguin takes the form of a gritty, HBO crime drama. Just don't call him "Penguin": across eight one-hour episodes, the show tugs at the bruised ego and vicious temper behind the iconic Batman foe as he attempts to foist some respect on his name. Batman's grungy 2022 reboot may have impressed as a politically conscious, M-rated tentpole release, but Reeves' vision of Gotham makes a tremulous foundation for an original HBO drama, with more than a passing allusion to TV heavyweights like The Sopranos.