HBO’s Colin Farrell Penguin Show Just Cast Its Main Villain
Cristin Milioti of Palm Springs fame has been cast as Sofia Falcone in HBO Max's The Penguin series as the chief antagonist.
When Colin Farrell reprises the role of Oswald Cobblepot aka The Penguin in the upcoming HBO Max series, he’ll be joined by Cristin Milioti (Palm Springs) as Sofia Falcone. According to Deadline, as Sofia Falcone, Milioti has been cast in the role of the daughter of mob boss Carmine Falcone, who was played by John Turturro in The Batman. In the series, Penguin and Sofia will be clashing over control of Gotham’s underworld.
Long before she was cast opposite Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti landed on a lot of audiences’ radars when she played the titular mother in the popular sitcom How I Met Your Mother. She’s since found prominent roles on Fox’s anthology crime series Fargo, The Mindy Project, and opposite Andy Samberg in the sci-fi comedy Palm Springs. Most recently, she’s leading the Peacock thriller series The Resort.
Sofia Falcone, the villain who will be locking horns with Colin Farrell’s character, was introduced in the 1996-7 limited comic book series Batman: The Long Halloween; a story that has proven to be one of the most influential in live-action adaptations of Batman’s mythos. In the comics Sofia is vengeful and physically imposing — towering over her mobster father. She was voiced by Laila Berzins (Genshin Impact) in the animated adaptations of The Long Halloween, and played by Crystal Reed (Teen Wolf) in Fox’s Gotham.
In case there’s any question: Colin Farrell has confirmed that The Penguin will be no prequel. Earlier in October, the actor revealed that the miniseries is set one week after the events of The Batman‘s conclusion, including that the city is still “somewhat underwater” after the flooding in the film’s climax. Presumably since Cobblepot is Carmine’s captain in the film, once the mob boss is murdered by the Riddler (Paul Dano), it sets Pengun and Sofia at odds in their respective attempts to fill the void.
The past couple of months have seen an increasing stream of news about The Penguin, including the word that the miniseries will be helmed by a director from one of HBO Max’s best series. Craig Zobel, who worked with Kate Winslet and an incredible ensemble cast in Mare of Easttown, will be directing Colin Farrell and co. in The Penguin.
Fans will no doubt be hoping some other characters from the Batman mythos will show up alongside Colin Farrell in The Penguin, and our own sources tell us you can expect to see Barry Keoghan reprise his role as the Joker in the miniseries and that we’ll also be introduced to a new version of the Scarecrow (played by Cillian Murphy in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight films). With the series seemingly revolving around a Gotham crime war, however, it wouldn’t be surprising to find more classic Bat villains.
Of course, the upcoming spinoff of The Batman isn’t the only place where you can find Colin Farrell. His dramedy The Banshees of Inisherin is out now, and critics absolutely adore it.
