Sounds The Batman Is Giving Colin Farrell A Physical Transformation

Colin Farrell in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

The DC live-action universe has had a wild ride in theaters, full of peaks and valleys. Warner Bros. seems to have found its footing regarding the DCEU in the past few years, and there are some very exciting projects coming to theaters over the next few years. Chief among them is Matt Reeves' The Batman, which was in the midst of filming before film sets all around the world were shut down. And it looks like Colin Farrell will be getting quite the physical transformation to play the villainous Penguin.

While Matt Reeves and company have been fairly tight-lipped about the contents of The Batman, this new update about Colin Farrell comes to us from someone who isn't involved in the DC blockbuster at all. Actor Rob McClure is playing the lead character in upcoming Broadway musical version of Mrs. Doubtfire, which requires prosthetics for this transformation. And when getting fitted he actually spotted prosthetics that are being used for Farrell's Penguin. As he recently revealed:

When I went into the place to get the process you just saw, I walked in and they were like ‘Oh hang on. We just have to clear off this table.’ And they were building the Penguin prosthetics for Colin Farrell in the new Batman movie.

Well, that's exciting. Because while Colin Farrell is a handsome actor who has been a sex symbol throughout the years, it looks like he'll still inhabit the comic book physicality of Penguin in The Batman. So are we getting the villain's signature pointy nose?

Rob McClure's comments come from his recent appearance on Seth Sudetsky's Stars in the House. While discussing the process of transforming into the title character of Mrs. Doubtfire, he may have accidentally revealed that Colin Farrell was going to be outfitted with prosthetics for The Batman. And that news should make comic book purists very happy.

On the page, Penguin is usually a very small round man with a long nose. He's been translated into live-action a few times, most notably Danny DeVito's iconic performance in Batman Returns. Robin Lord Taylor played the character for five seasons of Gotham, and brought a taller but still very specific physicality to the character. Colin Farrell has some big shoes to fill, so it's exciting to see that Matt Reeves has a comic book accurate vision for the character.

Not much is known about the contents of The Batman, but Matt Reeves assembled a killer cast to bring Gotham City to life. Robert Pattinson's Bruce Wayne will have to face off against a trio of villains including Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz), Riddler (Paul Dano) and Colin Farrell's Penguin. We'll just have to wait and see when it picks up production.

The Batman is currently expected to arrive in theaters on October 1st, 2021. In the meantime, check out our 2020 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.