Is ‘The Penguin’ Season 2 happening? Colin Farrell's HBO miniseries gets major update
'The Penguin' creator and showrunner Lauren LeFranc is sharing a new update on the future of the crime drama miniseries after signing a two-year overall deal with HBO. For the unversed, let us share with you that 'The Penguin' is a crime drama series based on the DC Comics character of the same name, and it serves as a spin-off from the 2022 film 'The Batman.' The HBO miniseries revolves around the character of Oz Cobb/The Penguin (played by Colin Farrell) as he rises to power in Gotham City's criminal underworld following the death of Carmine Falcone (essayed by Mark Strong).
Along with Colin Farrell, the star cast of 'The Penguin' also includes Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz, Deirdre O'Connell, and Clancy Brown. The first season of 'The Penguin,' which consisted of eight episodes, received positive reviews from both critics and audiences. The show earned a rating of 8.6 out of 10 on IMDb. In addition, the miniseries holds a score of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. Furthermore, Farrell even won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film for his brilliant portrayal of Oz.
Following the success of the first season of 'The Penguin,' viewers began wondering whether HBO would renew the show for a second season. During his latest interview with The Hollywood Reporter, LeFranc candidly spoke about 'The Penguin' and discussed the chances of a follow-up season. "I don’t know. There’s no current status update. I think Matt just turned in his script (for The Batman Part II), so I’m excited to read that soon and see what comes of that, if there is anything there that merits a second season [of The Penguin] or not," LeFranc said.
LeFranc further elaborated, "I think we’ve said this before, but I truly mean it: We have to feel confident we can top ourselves, and that’s something that’s really important to Colin Farrell and me, especially; otherwise, we don’t want to do something again if it’s not going to be excellent. We were always meant to be a limited series. So, pivoting to a second season is just different—it’s not something we ever really talked about."
Despite the huge success of 'The Penguin' Season 1, it seems LeFranc isn’t in a hurry to push for a second season anytime soon. It appears that LeFranc wants to take her time to find the right story and determine whether it can top the first season. On the other hand, Farrell will be reprising his role as Oz Cobb in the highly anticipated 'The Batman: Part II,' which is scheduled to hit the screens on October 1, 2026. In the same interview, when asked about the possibility of a second season of 'The Penguin,' Farrell said, “I certainly think it makes [a second season] more difficult. [Killing Vic] is a very hard thing to claw back from. It’s not impossible, but it’s a tougher hill to climb.”