The Penguin release date, cast and series future as The Batman spin-off airs on Sky

The Batman spin-off The Penguin will finally be released this week on UK TV as viewers watch the Penguin expand his criminal empire. Viewers were first introduced to Matt Reeve's vision of Gotham and its characters in his 2022 movie and Colin Farrell transforms into the Penguin once again in the self-titled series.

The eight-part Warner Bros. Television and DC Studios drama series will focus on Oz Cobb one week after the events of The Batman and his rise to power in Gotham's criminal underworld.

The Penguin soon takes advantage of the hole in Gotham’s underworld left by the death of his boss and seizes an opportunity to launch his own criminal empire.

But how can you watch the new comic book series, who stars in the series and what is set to follow The Penguin?

READ MORE: Where is new Marvel series Agatha All Along set in the MCU?

READ MORE: The Batman spin-off The Penguin set for UK release on Sky TV

When is The Penguin released in the UK?

The mini-series will be broadcast on Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW on Friday, September 20. This will be a day later than the US, so UK viewers will have to avoid spoilers online.

Every episode will be aired weekly on Sky Atlantic and will be available to watch on NOW.

Who appears in The Penguin?

The Penguin sees the return of Colin Farrell reprising his role as the titular gangster, following his acclaimed turn in The Batman. Farrell is barely recognisable as Oz, having donned prosthetics to transform into the character.

He stars alongside How I Met Your Mother actress Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone, the daughter of the late crime lord Carmine Falcone. Also starring are Boardwalk Empire’s Michael Zegen as Alberto Falcone, Billion’s Clancy Brown as Salvatore Maroni, Runaways’ Rhenzy Feliz as Victor Aguilar and House of Cards’ Michael Kelly as Johnny Vitti.

Rounding out the cast are 24’s Shohreh Aghdashloo as Nadia Maroni, the head of the Maroni Crime Family, and Outer Range’s Deirdre O’Connell as Francis Cobb, Oswald’s mother.

Will there be a second season of The Penguin?

At the moment, HBO has not renewed The Penguin. Colin Farrell is already reportedly appearing in The Batman: Part II, but he recently shared a disappointing response to the early calls for a follow-up season of The Penguin.

“I don’t know, man,” he responded when Total Film posed the question to him.

“Don’t get me wrong – I loved it – but it got in on me a little bit. By the end of it, I was b***hing and moaning to anyone who would listen to me that I f***ing wanted it to be finished.

“I tried to remind them that I had ‘grumpy gratitude.’”

While he was still excited to reprise his role after growing up watching previous iterations of The Penguin, the lengthy stints in the makeup chair might put him off returning for another lead role as the notorious crime lord.

“I was still grateful, and still honoured,” he added. “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. But by the end of it…”

The Golden Globe-winning actor went on to praise series showrunner Lauren LeFranc and makeup designer Mike Marino before hinting he hadn’t fully made up his mind about the possibility of returning.

“Lauren said, ‘Look, if I could find a way that makes sense, would you talk about it?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely’,” he added.

“And maybe in a year, I would. But when I finished I was like, ‘I never want to put that f***ing suit and that f***ing head on again’.”