Key Takeaways
- No major characters make The Penguin story more compelling than ever – without relying on big names.
- The Penguin’s focused character development surpasses MCU’s reliance on significant characters cameos.
- The MCU should take a cue from The Penguin’s approach to avoid overshadowing a show with cameo expectations.
Not only is The Penguin one of the best shows currently on television, but it’s also one of the best shows based on superheroes or supervillains ever produced. There are all kinds of ways the show that is officially a follow-up to The Batman gets itself to stand out. There is one way that it stands out more than most and it’s why the people at Marvel should start taking notes.
The Penguin gets a lot of credit for being a more realistic and grounded look at the superhero genre. It allows people to put themselves in the shoes of the protagonist (assuming there really is such a thing in the show) and the many antagonists. Whether it was intentional and always geared to end up this way, the reason it feels so grounded and the reason the audience can lose itself in how the story is being told is that no one is waiting for some heavy hitter. No one is sitting and waiting and hoping that someone who might be a little more popular or a little more powerful will jump into the middle of the action. Certainly, there are some additions that could have made the HBO Max series a little more campy and a little more true to the comics, but Lauren LeFranc has stuck with realistic and gritty. And the showrunner is ensuring that the focus stays on the main characters, where it’s been since Episode 1.
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No Big Character Makes It Better
There was never any indication that Batman would appear in The Penguin. In fact, the people in charge of the show went out of their way to make sure audiences knew the program wouldn’t be a story where Oz Cobb went head-to-head with Bruce Wayne or his alter ego. The show was always an “origin story” of the mobster, with some of his origins well established.
|
Showrunner |
Lauren LeFranc |
|---|---|
|
Stars |
Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti |
|
Release Date |
September 19, 2024 |
|
Streaming On |
HBO Max |
Since the show aired, plenty of people knew Batman wasn’t appearing if there might be some other villains making at least a short appearance. However, the writers have made sure that other than Sofia Falcone, who was also in the very first episode, and the Maronis, who was always going to be a part of this, no other DC comic, good guy or bad guy, will appear. It’s been an impressive level of story focus for a show that could have hinted here or there about The Joker, The Riddler, or even someone like Calendar Man.
This focus onThe Penguin and people directly in his orbit allowed the program to fill out his character far more than it could have done if it introduced a Rogues Gallery of people competing for screen time. It will enable people to get to know who they should know and make the show quite a bit more compelling than what the MCU has put up on Disney+ in the last few years. Those shows tend to rely on more significant characters showing up at some point, even if only for an episode or a few minutes in an episode.
The MCU Could Learn Something From This Approach
There are several habits that the MCU has fallen into in the last few years especially that could allow James Gunn to carry the DCU past his Marvel counterpart in popularity and quality. Marvel shows have been leaning too heavily on how who might make an appearance. It’s become a bit of a tradition. Sometimes those big names show up, like Bruce Banner in She-Hulk. Other times, the bigger name is mentioned often in shows like Agatha All Along.
Viewers got excited about Mephisto possibly showing up for the first time in the MCU because he was mentioned in the early episodes. He never did, and it’s a safe bet that when Mephisto was mentioned there were plenty of people who were only watching, or at least primarily watching to see if the MCU version of the devil did indeed make an appearance.
Looking for the bigger characters to pop up takes away from the show. It has people tuning in for the wrong reasons. They aren’t there to take in the plot and the acting, they’re just waiting to see if Mephisto, or the Scarlet Witch will make an appearance.
Marvel also doesn’t help itself because it often teases that someone else will show up. Lauren LeFranc and the rest of the people behind The Penguin made it very clear right from the start that Batman wouldn’t appear. While some people might think that’s a misdirect and the Dark Knight will eventually show up, even if he doesn’t, the show has been one of the best things on television. The MCU should absolutely follow suit, because every show just being a chance for fans to see characters that aren’t supposed to even appear.
Created by Lauren LeFranc and starring Colin Farrell, The Penguin builds on 2022’s The Batman. The Max series chronicles the eponymous villain’s attempt to reach Gotham’s criminal peak, rising through the underworld in the middle of a power struggle.
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