The Penguin Puts A Spin On Robin’s Origin Story With Its Biggest Supporting Character

Spoilers for “The Penguin” follow.

“The Batman” ended by suggesting that Oz Cobb/Penguin (Colin Farrell) would be stepping into the shoes of his late boss, Carmine Falcone (Mark Strong, recast from John Turturro). “The Penguin” shows that his ascension won’t be that simple.

The series opens on Oz meeting with the Falcone princeling Alberto (Michael Zegen) — and killing him. Now, he has to dispose of the body, or the remaining Falcone forces will kill him. When Oz heads back to his car, he finds some teens trying to tirejack it; he scares most of them off with a gun (hitting his car in the process), then drafts one named Victor Aguilar (Rhenzy Feliz) to help him dump Alberto’s body.

Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti) instantly pins Oz as her brother’s killer, noticing the bullet holes in his car’s purple (or “plum”) paint job and tracking down one of Victor’s friends to disprove Oz’s alibi. However, Oz has a plan to frame rival boss Sal Maroni (Clancy Brown) for the hit, executed with some help from Victor. The episode ends with them sharing some slushy drinks together, while Victor asks Oz to keep him under his wing.

Looks like it’s not just heroes in Gotham City who need sidekicks. Batman, once a wayward orphan himself, has amassed a verifiable army of Robins and Batgirls from Gotham’s troubled youth. He even met the second Robin, Jason Todd, the same way that Oz meets Victor.

Jason Todd was created by Gerry Conway and Don Newton in 1983, debuting in “Batman” #357. He was initially just a carbon copy of Dick Grayson, the original Robin, down to having the same origin as a circus acrobat whose parents were murdered by a gangster. Jason was introduced at the tail end of the pre-“Crisis On Infinite Earths” DC Universe, though. When “Batman” relaunched in the “Post-Crisis” world, Max Allan Collins revised Jason’s origin.

Dick Giordano’s cover of “Batman” #408 (the first issue published after Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s four-issue “Batman: Year One” arc) shows a young street punk having stolen a tire from the Batmobile. He then looks up in horror to see Batman landed on the car roof, leering over him. Who would think from the cover that this kid is the new Robin?

The story inside the pages of “Batman” #408 depicts Dick Grayson’s retirement as Robin and Batman’s first meeting with Jason. While investigating a case in Gotham’s Crime Alley slum, he returns to his car and finds it missing a tire. Stunned by the audacity, Batman laughs, only for Jason to clock him with his tire iron. Batman chases down the boy and makes him return the car’s wheel. Sensing the kid needs some guidance, he helps Jason move off the street into a school for troubled boys. When that doesn’t take, he adopts him and trains him as the new Robin.

This new origin for Robin II reflected a shift in how he was written. Jason wasn’t a plucky Burt Ward do-gooder, he was a punk with a lot of festering rage. That attitude (and readers’ negative response to it) ultimately got him killed by the Joker in the storyline “A Death in The Family” (by Jim Starlin and Jim Aparo, published in “Batman #426-429).

Is Victor headed for a fate as bloody as Jason’s? Oz may be the Penguin, but he’s also a snake. Before Victor proved his worth, and Oz sensed a kindred spirit social climber, the Penguin was ready to kill him as a loose end. I, for one, would not want to be in Victor’s shoes right now.

“The Penguin” is streaming on Max.