How Does ‘The Penguin’s Finale Lead Into ‘The Batman: Part II’? The Comics Might Have an Answer

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for The Penguin finaleThe Penguin took its final bow, as its finale “Great or Little Thing,” finally saw Oz Cobb (Colin Farrell) rising to the top of Gotham’s criminal empire. But the closing moments are a reminder that Oz has another challenge ahead of him… and that challenge takes the form of Batman (Robert Pattinson). The night sky is lit up with the Bat Signal, serving as a reminder to Oz — and the audience — that the Dark Knight lurks in the shadows. Considering that The Penguin took great pains to avoid the Batman-shaped elephant in the room, it’s a surprise that the Bat Signal made an appearance. However, it also hints that the events of The Penguin may feed into The Batman: Part II. In fact, there’s a comic book storyline that ties the two together.

The comic that arguably has the most influence on The Penguin is Batman: Dark Victory by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, which serves as a direct sequel to Batman: The Long Halloween. In Batman: Dark Victory, Batman — still reeling from Harvey Dent’s transformation into Two-Face — is drawn into the middle of a territorial dispute between Two-Face and the remaining members of the Falcone crime family. Complicating matters is the fact that Alberto Falcone, aka the serial killer Holiday, has been released into his sister Sofia’s care… and a mysterious serial killer known as the “Hangman” has been striking at Gotham’s police force. Eventually, it’s revealed that Sofia is the Hangman, as she sought to kill anyone who helped Harvey Dent become district attorney as revenge for Two-Face killing her father.

The Penguin uses the gang war aspect of Dark Victory as the backbone of its plot, with Oz attempting to climb his way to the top. It also radically changes Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti) and her role in Gotham’s underworld. Rather than becoming the Hangman, Sofia was framed by her father Carmine (Mark Strong) and sent to Arkham Asylum. The resulting trauma leads her to take her mother’s maiden name of Gigante and kill her entire family, while targeting Oz for helping send her to Arkham. With The Penguin putting Oz at the top of the criminal underworld, The Batman: Part II may explore how he actually has an edge against the Dark Knight.

‘The Penguin’ Finale Hints That Catwoman Could Turn Against Batman

Oz eventually gets the upper hand on Sofia, and she’s carted back to Arkham… but it turns out someone has been keeping in contact with her. Her therapist/lover/right-hand man Julian Rush (Theo Rossi),brings her a letter from her half-sister Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz). Selina plays a major role in the events of The Batman, where audiences learn that she is Carmine Falcone’s illegitimate daughter; she seeks revenge on Falcone for killing her friend Anna, but Batman stops her, and Falcone instead is shot by the Riddler (Paul Dano).

In comics canon, Catwoman would find out about her parentage during the Catwoman: When in Rome miniseries that takes place in between issues of Dark Victory. Having Selina contact Sofia implies that the two might join forces (an idea that Milioti is all in favor of) and provides an interesting wrinkle for The Batman Part II. The Batman ended with Batman and Selina at odds due to his dedication to protect Gotham, and her potentially working with Selina could only further that division. But Dark Victory and its predecessor Batman: The Long Halloween could also take the opposite route, as Selina ends up scarring Sofia in The Long Halloween. The Batman: Part II looks like it has plenty of narrative choices when it comes to Catwoman.

Could Robin Be in ‘The Batman: Part II’?

Dark Victory‘s biggest claim to fame is that it serves as an update to the origins of Dick Grayson, the first Robin. Bruce Wayne ends up taking Dick under his wing and eventually training him as Robin. Matt Reeves was fairly open about how Batman: The Long Halloween was a major influence on The Batman, so The Batman Part II could use Dark Victory as the same influence. If Reeves develops the Batman/Robin dynamic in The Batman Part II, it could be the mirror image of the dynamic Oz and Victor Aguilar (Rhenzy Felix) had in The Penguin; Oz similarly took Victor under his wing but eventually murdered him to prevent himself from getting too attached to his sidekick and showing any kind of weakness. The Batman: Part II hasn’t started filming yet, but The Penguin has already laid plenty of groundwork for the upcoming sequel.

All episodes of The Penguin are available to watch on Max in the U.S.

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