The Penguin’s director sent Matt Reeves a fan letter when he first saw The Batman

Craig Zobel was very impressed with The Batman and he took the liberty of praising Reeves directly for his approach.

Colin Farrell‘s reign as the famous Gotham gangster is about to begin with HBO’s The Penguin, which spun off from Matt Reeves’ film The Batman. The latest interpretation of the DC iconic superhero was praised by many, and one fan in particular now gets to helm The Penguin. The Hollywood Reporter has shared that Craig Zobel, who directs episodes of The Penguin, was so impressed with the 2022 Dark Knight movie that he sent Matt Reeves a letter, thanking him.

Zobel told THR, “I happened to have his email. So I reached out to say, ‘Hey, not for nothing, [The Batman] was the superhero movie I wanted to see right now. You killed it.’ That was my first time saying anything to Matt at all.” When it came to emulating Reeves’ style for the show, Zobel explained, “We talked with Matt and [The Batman DP] Greig Fraser a good bit before starting the show, and we asked them questions just on a very technical level. So we used all of the same camera gear and lenses that are in the movie, and as far as lighting styles and stuff like that, I would say that we carried that through, even if the scenarios were slightly different.”

Recently, Colin Farrell spoke candidly about the revealing bodysuit he had to display on the upcoming spin-off. While speaking with People, Farrell explained that one scene in the series called for his character to appear naked. “Marino is so twisted and brilliant. He was like, ‘I made you a penguin penis,’” Farrell said. “I said, ‘Really? They’re not even going to see it. I don’t know if I want to walk on set with a penguin penis.’ And he was like, ‘No, no, no, dude. It’s detachable, it’s Velcro. It’s got a beak at the end of it.’ So I had a penguin penis.“

Farrell went on to credit Marino for making the whole thing work. “If it wasn’t for Mike’s design, I’m telling you now, if it was just me with a f—ing cigarette and a top hat and a bit of a limp and an umbrella that was a machine gun, we wouldn’t have had the HBO show.” The complete transformation covers just about every part of Farrell’s body. “Only things that were me were my hands and feet,” he said. “Everything else, including ears, were pieces. Everything was covered.“

About the Author

E.J. is a News Editor at JoBlo, as well as a Video Editor, Writer, and Narrator for some of the movie retrospectives on our JoBlo Originals YouTube channel, including Reel Action, Revisited and some of the Top 10 lists. He is a graduate of the film program at Missouri Western State University with concentrations in performance, writing, editing and directing.