Matt Reeves' THE PENGUIN Series Is Filling Its Cast and Adds Michael Kelly, Shohreh Aghdashloo, and Deirdre O’Connell

Matt Reeves and the creative team behind The Batman spinoff series The Penguin is starting to cast the show. It’s been announced that Michael Kelly (House of Cards, Jack Ryan), Shohreh Aghdashloo (The Expanse, House Of Sand And Fog) and Deirdre O’Connell (Outer Range) have joined the DC series.

They join previously cast Colin Farrell, who will reprise his role, Cristin Milioti, who plays female lead Sofia Falcone, and Rhenzy Feliz, who is reportedly playing a teen whom The Penguin befriends and makes his driver.

The eight-episode Penguin series has been described as a “Scarface-like” series that will see the rise of the villain in the criminal underworld of Gotham City. When previously talking about the movie Farrell said:

"I think it's going to be eight parts for HBO around Oz's rise into power, filling that power vacuum that was created when Falcone was killed. Matt [Reeves]'s idea originally was to have the Penguin show begin about a week after the end of the Batman film. And then, if it works, if the trajectory is interesting enough and if the audience go for it and we do our jobs right, have the second film – Penguin feature in the second film and pick up where the HBO show will end."

During another interview, Farrell shared that he read the first script and teased what we can expect from the opening scene of the series, sharing:

“Gotham is still somewhat underwater. I read the first script for the first episode, and it opens up with my feet splashing through the water in Falcone’s office. Even just that alone, I read it, I was like, ‘Oh, jeez.’”

Lauren LeFranc will serve as writer and showrunner on the series, and when talking about it, he said, “I have long been a fan of the world of The Batman, and Matt’s film is such a powerful and bold entry into the canon. I am excited and humbled to continue telling stories in the grimy world of Gotham City – and what better excuse to channel my inner villain than to tell the story of Oswald Cobblepot? I am thrilled to work with Colin, Matt, Dylan, 6th & Idaho, Warners, and HBO Max as we work to bring this story to the screen.”

Production on the limited series begins this month in New York. It doesn't have a release date yet.