‘The Penguin’ Is an Absolute Hit with the Fans and James Gunn is Proud of that Fact

Many fans were dubious when Colin Farrell was chosen to play Oswald “Oz” Cobb (they changed the name a bit, yes), better known as The Penguin, in Matt Reeves’ The Batman since they weren’t sure what to anticipate from the portrayal, seeing how Farrell looked nothing like the character.

However, the Irish actor did such a fantastic job that HBO ordered a stand-alone series about The Penguin right once, with Farrell signing on to star in it.

As of the time of writing, the show has released two episodes and it is lauded as one of the best series of the year, earning praise from both critics and fans. Everyone is praising the acting, the world-building, the character development, and the evolution of the story, which is absolutely amazing.

And if you’re think we’re overselling it, the numbers we have are confirming this, as even James Gunn – who doesn’t have much to do with this series, as Reeves’ Batman universe is not part of the DCU – went to social media to praise the show and show everyone how proud he is of the series’ success.

First, Variety reported that the second episode of The Penguin brought in 1.6 million viewers on its premiere night, which is an incredible 17% increase from the series premiere, and a fact that shows how much the series is growing. James Gunn then took to Threads to praise the series, linking the Variety article and adding a short message: “🐧🙌🐧”.

As far as the series as a whole is concerned, this is certainly amazing news. The Penguin is doing absolutely great and all that we can say is that we’re quite excited to see the series grow even more and that we hope that DC will be able to continue building on the success of The Penguin.

And we’re not the only ones who share such sentiments, as you will now see the fan reactions to Gunn’s Threads post:

No exaggeration to say that Colin’s performance here rivals the level Heath raised the bar to with his Joker.

– nick.spalding

Colin Farrell is inhuman in this role and I love it! I think the first 2 episodes have been great so far! Also gotta s/o Michael Kelly playing Johnny Viti…just awesome to watch!

– thejcanthony

Hey James it’s awesome! How will your Batman be different to Matt reeves other than it being fantastical? Any Batman comic runs you would recommend to get a sense of what you’re going for?

– dimichelejamesjames12345

The rumors are so exhausting. I heard (again) that Matt Reeves’ universe will be part of the same universe as the Superman film directed by you, James Gunn. That’s false, right?

– edsangui

This show is so good. Collin Farrel is such a remarkable talent. I hope he gets the same love Walton Goggins got for Fallout.

– soberstoriesproject

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