‘I Never Want To Put That ****ing Suit on Again:’ The Penguin’s Colin Farrell Addresses His Future as the Batman Villain

Colin Farrell loves playing the Penguin in Matt Reeves’ DC universe, but he isn’t sure that he ever wants to suit up for the role again.

Being the Penguin took a toll on Farrell, not just mentally, but also with the fact he would have to undergo intense markup and prosthetics to get in character. While he is still open to returning, Farrell revealed in an interview with TotalFilm that by the end of filming the character’s new HBO series, he never wanted to put the suit and makeup on ever again.

“Lauren said, ‘Look, if I could find a way that makes sense, would you talk about it?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely.’ And maybe in a year I would. But when I finished I was like, ‘I never want to put that fucking suit and that fucking head on again,'” Farrell recalls from a conversation with showrunner Lauren LeFranc.

Farrell debuted his version of Penguin in Matt Reeves’ hit 2022 film The Batman. His character has now become the first in the series to get their own spin-off. Despite the pain of becoming the Penguin, Farrell explains that he had a sort of ‘grumpy gratitude’ while filming for The Penguin, and was honored to get the chance to bring this iconic Batman villain to life on screen for the second time. “I grew up watching Burgess Meredith, and then Danny DeVito was my Penguin – so being a part of the lineage of that storytelling, I really did feel privileged,” Farrell said.

The good news for fans of Farrell’s take on Penguin is that they’ll be getting a ton of him when The Penguin arrives on Max later this month, but since becoming the character takes such a heavy toll on the star, we’ll have to wait and see if he decides to come back for Season 2.

The Penguin will premiere on Sept. 20 on HBO and will be available to stream on Max the same day.