Minnie Driver Will Play The Penguin in BATMAN: CAPED CRUSADER Animated Series
It was announced at Comic-Con that Minnie Driver is set to play The Penguin in Bruce Timm’s upcoming Batman: Caped Crusader animated series.
This is a fascinating and surprising casting choice for this iconic Batman villain! There are no other details to share, but Driver taking on the role of a female version of The Penguin. You can see a first look at the character above fighting Batman.
She previously teased her role saying: "They will literally -- some kind of alarm will go off, and I'll be taken off in the back of a van if I told you anything about who I'm playing. But I've got to tell you, it's so rad. The whole show, it's rad -- it's great."
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.”
This series is going to be a whole new take on the Batman mythology, and the series is set in the very early crime-fighting career of Batman. Timm said: “Batman is so early in his career that in the first episode, he’s still an urban myth.”
He went on to say: “It’s not Year One,” referring to the Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli Batman origin comic. “It’s more like ‘Week Two’.”
Not only will Bruce Wayne be trying to figure out how to be Batman, this is going to be a different kind of Batman to the versions we’ve previously seen.
Timm explained: “I wanted to make him kind of weird, and spooky. If you’re stuck in a room with Batman, whether you’re Commissioner Gordon or Barbara Gordon or Renee Montoya, you don’t feel comfortable. You’re kind of like, ‘What is this guy? What’s this all about?’”
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.
Batman: Caped Crusader premieres this August 1 on Prime Video.