Director Matt Reeves is no stranger to bringing comics to life. His gritty 2022 Batman movie thrilled fans worldwide. Now, he’s taking Gotham City to the small screen with a new HBO series called The Penguin.

Starring Colin Farrell as the villainous Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot, The Penguin will dive into the seedy criminal underworld of Gotham. Showrunner Lauren LeFranc says it’s like a mafia story, showing Oz’s tricky rise to the top. We’ll get to see how he earned his nickname and became one of Batman’s most dangerous foes.

Reeves has been cooking up big plans for Gotham ever since making The Batman. “I started thinking, wow there’s so many cool stories we could explore on TV,” he said. That gave him the idea to work with Warner Bros on more DC shows.

At first, Reeves wanted to do a police series and one set in Arkham Asylum. But HBO told him to focus on characters fans will recognize. So now The Penguin incorporates parts of those scrapped ideas.

The show serves as a bridge between The Batman movies too. While we don’t know if Batman will appear, Lauren hinted it’s important for the sequel.

As for what’s next, producer Dylan Clark teased “another TV world we’re exploring.” They’ll pick other memorable Batman villains or areas of Gotham to bring to the small screen.

The Penguin premieres this September. Until then, fans can get hyped learning how Oz climbed the crime ladder in gritty, gloomy Gotham City. With Matt Reeves at the helm, it’s sure to be a wild ride into the shadows of Gotham.