BATMAN: CAPED CRUSADER Creator Bruce Timm Says "Lack of Good Villains" Led To Gender-Swapped Penguin
When it was announced that Minnie Driver would be playing a gender-swapped version of The Penguin in the Batman: Caped Crusader animated series, it became one of the most talked about aspects of the series, and as you might imagine, reactions were mixed.
Some fans just didn’t like seeing this classic DC gangster character being reinvented as a bawdy, show-stopping cabaret artist moonlighting as the head of a criminal organization.
According to series creator Bruce Timm, the inspiration behind the change came from what he says is a “lack of good villains” in the world of Batman.
During an interview with the Emmys, Timm said: "James and I were talking about the overview of the show, and we said, 'One of the problems with Batman, as he is, is there’s a lack of good villains.'
"You’ve got Catwoman, you’ve got Poison Ivy, you’ve got Harley Quinn. But it would be really good to have more female villains. And off the top of my head, I said… 'What if we gender-flip The Penguin?'"
Producer James Tucker added: "When he said 'Maybe we can gender-flip Penguin' I just got this flood of ideas. I was thinking of Marlene Dietrich in her tuxedo and Cabaret the musical and the art form of cabaret, and I just started drawing…
“Also, I was thinking a little bit of Harvey Fierstein and Hairspray and Divine. It just was like I knew instantly what it could be."
I’m fine with Driver’s version of The Penguin, but I also want to point out that there are a lot of interesting female villains in the Batman universe and it would’ve been cool to see some of these characters explored in the series who normally don’t get the spotlight.
There are characters like Roxy Rocket, Lady Clayface, Lynx, White Rabbit, Ma Gunn, Lady Spellbinder, Dragon Fly, and more.
Driver previously talked about the new Penguin saying she is a "great reimagining" that fits into Batman’s history.
She continued: "It's amazing as, a lot of times today, we are trying to redress the balance of representation and you sometimes feel that things have been shoehorned in – it's more performative than organic.”
"This is organic. It's believable that this bizarre, strange, larger than life character is genderless because it's the essence of The Penguin. What we are looking at is the essence of the original comics and animation. When you look at her she's weirdly genderless, she's a creature, and I love that that's what we are exploring now."
The description for the series reads: “Welcome to Gotham City, where the corrupt outnumber the good, criminals run rampant and law-abiding citizens live in a constant state of fear.
“Forged in the fire of tragedy, wealthy socialite Bruce Wayne becomes something both more and less than human—the BATMAN. His one-man crusade for justice attracts unexpected allies within the GCPD and City Hall, but his heroic actions spawn deadly, unforeseen ramifications.”
The rest of the cast includes Hamish Linklater (Midnight Mass) as Batman, Christina Ricci as Selina Kyle / Catwoman, Jamie Chung is Dr. Harleen Quinzel / Harley Quinn, and former Batman voice actor Diedrich Bader is set to play Harvey Dent / Two-Face.
Other cast members include Eric Morgan Stuart, Michelle C. Bonilla, Krystal Joy Brown, John DiMaggio, McKenna Grace, Jason Watkins, Paul Scheer, Reid Scott, Gary Anthony Williams, Dan Donohue, David Krumholtz, Haley Joel Osment, and Toby Stephens.
This animated series has been in development for some time with Timm, J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves, and comic writer Ed Brubaker leading the charge.
What do you think about Timm’s comments about there being a lack of good Batman villains?