Jeffrey Wright Was Never Asked to Appear on The Penguin, But Is Open to Future Seasons
“We’ll see what happens down the line.”
The Penguin managed to do something most superhero spinoffs could not: carve out its own corner of the universe that Matt Reeves’ The Batman built, while telling a top-to-bottom terrific story. The series was a lesson in everything that a spinoff should be, including the fact that it wrapped everything up neatly in a bow. There was no need for a second season — Colin Farrell’s Oz Cobb proved he was a monster, Gotham had a new crime boss in town, and the world was just waiting for Batman’s (Robert Pattinson) return. But apparently the success of the first season is making Reeves, who executive produces the show, consider otherwise.
It’s hard to see a second season justify itself when the first season was so perfect, but there’s one possibility that could make it worth it: an appearance by Gotham PD’s finest.
The Penguin could’ve used a few more familiar GCPD faces.
The Penguin wasn’t without cameos from fan-favorite characters from The Batman, like Con O'Neill’s Mackenzie Bock, the GCPD chief with the coolest voice you’ve ever heard. But you’d think for a series about warring criminal families, you’d see the most important member of the GCPD: Jim Gordon (Jeffrey Wright), the only police officer that Batman trusts. But Wright reveals to Inverse that he was never asked to appear on The Penguin: “There was no talk of my being in this first season.”
But there could be a silver lining — maybe he could show up in Season 2. “Who knows?” Wright says of future Gordon appearances in The Penguin. “We'll see what happens down the line, but I'm juggling enough balls as it is.”
Wright has been keeping busy since his last stint in Gotham — he’s been doing time on the other side of the superhero aisle with Marvel’s What If, and recently starred in Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City and the Oscar darling American Fiction. He’s currently appearing in the Michael Fassbender-led spy series The Agency, and is also set to reprise his role as Isaac Dixon in The Last of Us Season 2. His slate certainly has been full, which has kept him out of the loop on any Batman Part II updates.
Best buds Batman and Gordon do some investigating.
“I'm excited about getting back there, but you probably know as much as I know,” Wright says. “I haven't read anything. I haven't talked to Matt for a while. He's been off doing his thing, I've been off doing mine. But I look forward to getting back there.”
He has no idea what to expect of Gordon’s role in The Batman Part II, though there will likely be a promotion in store: Gordon was just a lieutenant in The Batman, which means we still need to see him get the commissioner job the character is so closely associated with. But Wright says, vaguely, “There's a lot to explore... I think the vision that [Reeves] has of Gotham is a really wonderful one, really rich and kind of grimy in the best way.”
