The Penguin on HBO: Will There Be a Season 2? And Everything Else to Know

The world of movies and TV shows based on DC Comics is not so straightforward, even as James Gunn prepares to launch his rebooted version of the DC movie-verse this summer with his Superman film that starts a whole new timeline. Coming up later this year we've got Peacemaker Season 2, which takes place in the new continuity even though Season 1 took place in the old one, and Matt Reeves' upcoming sequel to The Batman is still supposedly on the way in its own other universe separate from all the others. A lot of things are pretty up in the air right now, and that includes the status of a hypothetical Season 2 of The Penguin.

The Batman and The Penguin take place on their own timeline, separate from the greater DC franchise — in the same way Batman was its own separate franchise for most of the character's on-screen history — and so they aren't really affected by all that corporate upheaval that's been going on at Warner Bros. Discovery. This also means that to enjoy The Penguin, you don't have much in the way of a franchise to worry about — it's just The Batman and now The Penguin, with another Batman film allegedly coming someday.

The Penguin got off to a great start when Season 1 aired in 2024. It was an immediate hit for HBO and Max, with a rarity among TV shows in the streaming era: It increased its viewership over each of its first five episodes, and had its biggest audience tune in for the finale. Does that mean we might get more of The Penguin, even though it was billed as a limited series? It's possible. Read on to find out that and more. Here's everything we know about The Penguin.

More on HBO and Max:

• The best TV shows on Max
• The best movies on Max
• What's new on and coming to HBO and Max

The Penguin Season 2 latest news

Warner Bros Television boss Channing Dungey is the latest to weigh in the possibility of another season of The Penguin. In a chat with Deadline, Dungey made it pretty clear that, while the door is not closed, there is absolutely nothing currently planned.

"The Penguin is one of those things where — and it's interesting, because when you talk with everyone involved, everyone is interested in possibly revisiting those characters and doing more — it was very much designed as a limited series. But I would never say never. I think if we can get the creative stars to line up in the right way, and the talent is available — because we certainly wouldn't want to do this without Colin and Cristin and that team — I would say it's definitely a possibility, but there's nothing in the works at the moment."

Will we get The Penguin Season 2?

Though it was always meant to be a one-season limited series, The Penguin has become the rare TV hit that grew its audience over its run, with the finale episode earning the season's best viewership numbers. So you better believe that HBO and creator Matt Reeves are discussing it. 

"I can tell you this, we would love to be able to do more. But I can also say that we are already talking to HBO about [more]," Reeves told The Wrap in late October. "The opportunity of being able to... on HBO, go and explore characters that wouldn't be able to have that kind of real estate creatively [in movies], as we were able to do with Oz, that is something that we are talking to HBO about. They're very excited about that idea. That's something that we really, really hope we're going to be able to do." Reeves added, "We've got The Batman. We've got The Penguin. And who knows what's next."

It wouldn't be unprecedented for HBO to extend a limited series. It famously ordered two extra seasons of Big Little Lies following the critical and ratings success of Season 1, even though it was only meant to run for one season. The White Lotus, likewise, is now on its third season despite originally being planned as a one-off.

That said, Reeves' comment could also indicate that they plan to produce other limited series in this little Batman-verse, rather than continuing to focus on Penguin specifically. But he's not the only key player to weigh in on the possibility.

After winning a Screen Actors Guild award for his performance in The Penguin on Feb. 24, Oswald himself, star Colin Farrell, told Variety he was in no particular rush to dive back into the role, which requires Farrell to wear a rather dramatic amount of makeup. 

"I don't want it. I don't not want it," Farrell told Variety. "We all left it in the ring in those eight hours. I would hate to, just because of a quote-unquote success, have to go again and for it to be a diluted version of what people seem to feel it is, majoritively. So I'm in no rush. I have no deep desire to do it. … Sure, if they think of something that works in conjunction as a parallel to Matt Reeves' cinematic universe and it's a good idea, I'm open to it. But it's not something concerning me."  

It's worth pointing out that Ferrell is slated to be involved in the next Batman movie, which is still in development. It could be that the fate of The Penguin Season 2 will depend on what happens in that film.

What is The Penguin about?

The Penguin focuses on Oz Cobb himself as he attempts to make his own play for power in the wake of the death of Carmine Falcone (John Turturro) in The Batman. The Penguin picks up just days after what happened in the film, while Gotham is still in shambles and all the criminal elements in the city compete to fill the void left by Falcone's death. "The catastrophic events that end our movie also was a great opportunity to start a show, not just the physical decline of the place but the morally corrupt and complicated characters that exist in this world," executive producer Dylan Clark said at The Penguin's San Diego Comic-Con panel.

Those characters include Falcone's daughter, Sofia (Cristin Milioti), who wants to make her own play for power. 

While The Batman director Matt Reeves is receiving only a producer's credit for The Penguin and didn't direct any episodes, the grungy, noir-esque aesthetic of The Penguin is clearly based on Reeves' film. So there's certainly a throughline with the vibe as well as the story.

The Penguin is being billed as a limited series, and thus is only expected to run for these eight episodes. But that label has been used a lot lately for shows that wound up running for multiple seasons, so there's always a chance the label won't stick. And with a big screen sequel to The Batman not slated to debut until October 2026, there's enough time for another season of The Penguin before then if Warner Bros. wants to go for it. 

ALSO READ: Everything we know about Peacemaker Season 2

The Penguin cast and crew

Colin Farrell reprises the role he played in The Batman, complete with a drastic makeup transformation that had to have been a real pain to deal with. Beyond Farrell, The Penguin has assembled a really excellent group of character actors. Keep your eyes on Clancy Brown and Shohreh Aghdashloo as Salvatore and Nadia Maroni — that's a fun pairing.

• Colin Farrell as Oz Cobb, aka the Penguin
• Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone, Carmine's daughter
• Michael Kelly as Falcone crime family underboss Johnny Vitti
• Clancy Brown as mob boss Salvatore Maroni
• Shohreh Aghdashloo as Nadia Maroni
• Rhenzy Feliz as Victor Aguilar, a teenager who becomes Oswald's driver
• Carmen Ejogo as Eve Karlo
• Dierdre O'Connell as Oswald's mother, Francis

Is The Penguin part of James Gunn's new DC Universe?

Like Joker before it, The Batman was always planned as its own thing, separate from the DC Extended Universe of movies, and so it and The Penguin exist in their own bubble, unaffected by corporate machinations. In theory.

But in truth, we don't really understand anything about Gunn's long-term plans for DC, and we probably won't learn anything until we see his Superman film this summer. Despite that, Peacemaker Season 2 will be a part of the new universe and feature characters from that Superman film, despite Season 1 being in the old DC universe. We could be looking at some kind of in-universe reboot, like how the comics have done it several times across DC's history. 

With The Penguin launching many months before Superman, though, it might be a while until we have some answers about that.

How to watch The Penguin

All episodes of Season 1 of The Penguin are available to stream on Max.

How to watch The Batman

The Batman, like the previous live-action Batman movies, is available to stream on Max.