New Animated show coming to HBO Max

[The Dark Knight]

Dude! I mean, come on, this looks fantastic! I can't tell you how psyched I am for this. This is the exact setting I wanted for live action. Sure, I would do the costumes differently, but man, this looks soooo good.

I'm so stoked for this! 

It looks good. But niggling apprehensions remain. Gordon has already been spoken about, but I've heard rumblings Penguin will be gender swapped to female. Harley and Montoya are going to be in a lesbian relationship. Police having SWAT units in the 1940s is anachronistic. It's the 1970s before you see any cops in body armor. This may be set in the 1940s but it's far from being historically accurate. Bruce Timm may be BTAS alumni but he's also the man behind the awful Killing Joke animated adaption, including Batman and Harley Quinn. It's about what you're doing now, and I haven't liked that much at all.

[Silver Nemesis]

It looks good. But niggling apprehensions remain. Gordon has already been spoken about, but I've heard rumblings Penguin will be gender swapped to female. Harley and Montoya are going to be in a lesbian relationship. Police having SWAT units in the 1940s is anachronistic. It's the 1970s before you see any cops in body armor. This may be set in the 1940s but it's far from being historically accurate. Bruce Timm may be BTAS alumni but he's also the man behind the awful Killing Joke animated adaption, including Batman and Harley Quinn. It's about what you're doing now, and I haven't liked that much at all.

I share these concerns. The creative landscape of the modern entertainment industry is very different from that of the 1990s, or even the 2000s. Even with proven talent returning, they'll still be subject to the same political and ideological pitfalls that are negatively impacting almost every other TV show at the moment. I've yet to see a single franchise that's improved after being 'updated for modern audiences'. Why bother setting something in the past if your portrayal of 'the past' is just a mirror for the present?

I'm looking forward to checking out the first few episodes of this series, but if it's as bad as most other recent TV shows then I won't bother watching the rest. Instead I'll content myself with reviews from the likes of The Critical Drinker, Nerdrotic, Midnight's Edge, etc, which may prove more entertaining than the series itself. But hopefully it won't come to that. I don't want Jar Jar Abrams adding another victim to the list of franchises he's helped ruin. Right now I'm still trying to remain cautiously optimistic.

That said, it's been a long time since I last saw a DC animated production – TV or film – that truly impressed me. A very long time.

[The Dark Knight]

I've heard rumblings Penguin will be gender swapped to female.

Now confirmed.

https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/batman-caped-crusader-minnie-driver-penguin-oswalda-cobblepot-1236087851/

They just can't help themselves.

[thecolorsblend]

I don't understand the logic of this decision. Kudos to Minnie Driver for going out there and being a good company man about this. But it's kind of an incomprehensible creative choice.

[Slash Man]

Just like the 1940s comics

[The Dark Knight]

I don't understand the logic of this decision. Kudos to Minnie Driver for going out there and being a good company man about this. But it's kind of an incomprehensible creative choice.

Nothing is gained with this. It just blemishes what otherwise looks to be a decent show and puts a sizeable segment of the fanbase offside unnecessarily. Instead of creating a new female villain they hijack an existing iconic villain? Harley Quinn wouldn't exist at all if that was the modus operandi back in the 90s. Minnie Driiver says "That's what's so brilliant about what he's reimagined. The expansion of this particular character feels so timely. For such a vintage noir show, it's incredibly modern." No, Minnie. That's exactly what makes this so awful. The 1940s time period doesn't mesh with wokeism. Either go full 1940s or don't do it at all. Thankfully the Colin Farrell Penguin show seems to be giving the character exactly the type of portrayal he deserves.

[Kamdan]

They just can't help themselves

I don't understand the logic of this decision. Kudos to Minnie Driver for going out there and being a good company man about this. But it's kind of an incomprehensible creative choice.

Nothing is gained with this. It just blemishes what otherwise looks to be a decent show and puts a sizeable segment of the fanbase offside unnecessarily. Instead of creating a new female villain they hijack an existing iconic villain? Harley Quinn wouldn't exist at all if that was the modus operandi back in the 90s. Minnie Driiver says "That's what's so brilliant about what he's reimagined. The expansion of this particular character feels so timely. For such a vintage noir show, it's incredibly modern." No, Minnie. That's exactly what makes this so awful. The 1940s time period doesn't mesh with wokeism. Either go full 1940s or don't do it at all. Thankfully the Colin Farrell Penguin show seems to be giving the character exactly the type of portrayal he deserves.

I'm more intrigued with this notion of character than wanting to reject it. The Penguin has always needed radical reworkings to keep him being just a funny looking character. He was treated pretty eloquently in the Animated Series and this series doesn't simply want to repeat what's already been done.

I believe this Penguin will be more of a Ma Barker type of criminal with her sons, one likely Oswald, being her henchmen. That perfectly fits the whole 30's/40's vibe they're going for and it's a unique visual to see a mama penguin with her chicks in tow. It's certainly no less worthy than Farrell's incarnation of the character that was just a repeat of Pacino's Big Boy Caprice performance. There's also criticisms of the new Max series is more akin like the Bob Hoskins crime movie The Long Good Friday. I'll bet the storyline in Caped Crusader will be like The Godfather with Penguin being a monicker for the gang's leader and she'll be killed with the least likely member of the family will take over the mantle.

This likely wouldn't have gone over well if this was a contemporary set series, but the 30's/40's setting with inspirations from Ma Barker make this acceptable. The initial series bible had a detail about Cobblepot being a Norman Bates mama's boy type and this definitely feels like an extension of that notion.

Just like the 1940s comics

Along with the African American Gordons and Alfred, Asian American Dr. Harleen Quinzel and villains like Natalia Knight and Onomatopoeia. Obviously they're taking some liberties. Despite the creators making an effort to be different and constant criticisms of shows and movies using the same characters over and over, people are still complaining over the lack of familiars like The Joker and others. I've waited so long for a series like this to come to fruition and I'm willing to accept some differentiations as long as it's in good spirts. I want this to go beyond just the two season order totaling just 20 episodes.

[The Dark Knight]

Oswald may exist in this series but for all intents and purposes this woman is The Penguin. Which is foreign to franchise history, thus definitely not "something from the Batman comics." Being 'original', especially these days is more likely to produce alienating slop that is different just for the sake of it. That's how I feel about this Penguin. I'm more inclined to want something more straight down the line with the characters now. Being a Sopranos style gangster is still something new cinematically while not being a huge diversion from the norm. But this is just one character - I've liked the look and sound of the footage I've seen overall. I wasn't expecting to like everything from this. Just as long I like most of it.

[Kamdan]

Oswald may exist in this series but for all intents and purposes this woman is The Penguin. Which is foreign to franchise history, thus definitely not "something from the Batman comics." Being 'original', especially these days is more likely to produce alienating slop that is different just for the sake of it. That's how I feel about this Penguin. I'm more inclined to want something more straight down the line with the characters now. Being a Sopranos style gangster is still something new cinematically while not being a huge diversion from the norm. But this is just one character - I've liked the look and sound of the footage I've seen overall. I wasn't expecting to like everything from this. Just as long I like most of it.

Just accept that the name Penguin can be used for anyone. Makes more sense to make certain characters legacy ones than just the same person over and over that often stretch the believability. Admittedly, it's rather unoriginal to go with Oswalda for the character's name but this particular incarnation has interesting qualities than just something lifted from a 80 year old comic. If you want something "down the line," just read that old stuff again. It's easily accessible and it's a backhanded comment to other creators who have contributed to the character's history instead of just doing what was already done. Sure, some of it doesn't stick in the long run but it's still a contribution. One of the chief reasons DeVito wasn't keen on the idea of being The Penguin when he was rumored to be was that he didn't just want to be Burgess Meredith going QUACK QUACK or just a gangster version of Louie from Taxi. Once he was shown what they were getting into, he was convinced. Sometimes it's best to take another interpretation than just rise and repeat. Timm has said on the subject:

"You might think that we're changing something just to change it, but it was never about that; it was more about where will it lead us? Will it lead us to do something new?"

[Slash Man]

I would be fine if they were more honest about the presentation. If they marketed this as "a Batman of the 2020s", it probably wouldn't get as much fanfare, though. You can draw similarities to the liberties taken by a show like Velma, but at least Velma was never pretending to be a retro Scooby-Doo show for the dedicated fans.

There's a sizable group of fans that wanted a 1940s Batman show, and the promise of the same care and authenticity as Batman TAS was further enticing. The real disappointing part is that we likely will never get an authentic 40s Batman show now; they'll just say it was already tried with The Caped Crusader.