HBO Max’s upcoming The Batman spin-off series The Penguin has just filled a huge role. Clancy Brown (Dexter: New Blood) is the latest to join Colin Farrell in the series as Salvatore ‘Sal’ Maroni, the disgraced and imprisoned mobster who once helped run Gotham City.
In The Batman, Maroni had been behind bars for years due to a large drug bust orchestrated by the Gotham City Police Department, Gotham’s mayor and district attorney. However, the bust was really a ploy for Maroni’s rival Carmine Falcone to gain even more control over Gotham and its institutions by putting away his main competitor and taking a larger slice of the Wayne charity he and many other officials were taking advantage of, becoming the unofficial mayor of Gotham in the process.
The film even suggested Maroni as one possible mastermind behind the murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne, putting young Bruce Wayne on his journey to become Batman. In the Batman comics it is most commonly Maroni who is responsible for disfiguring Harvey Dent by throwing acid in his face, inadvertently creating Two-Face.
Brown joins a cast that includes Farrell reprising his role as Oswald Cobblepot aka The Penguin and Cristin Milioti (Made for Love) as Sofia Falcone alongside Michael Kelly (House of Cards), Shohreh Aghdashloo (The Expanse), Deirdre O’Connell (Outer Range) and Rhenzy Feliz (Runaways) in undisclosed roles.
Brown is no stranger to starring in comic book properties as he has previously starred in The Flash, Daredevil, The Punisher, Invincible, Ultimate Spider-Man and many more. However, the comic role he is most known for is the voice of Superman’s archnemesis Lex Luthor in Superman: The Animated Series. Much like Mark Hamill’s Joker, Brown’s Luthor has been hailed as definitive for the character and he would reprise the role in Justice League, Justice League Unlimited and several LEGO based DC video games.
SEE ALSO: Doug Bradley takes on iconic Batman role of Joe Chill for Gotham Knights
Set immediately after the conclusion of Matt Reeves’ $770 million grossing The Batman, the eight-part series will focus on Oswald Cobblepot, aka The Penguin, as he attempts to take control of Gotham’s underworld in the aftermath of Carmine Falcone’s death and the flooding of Gotham at the hands of The Riddler.
The Penguin has begun filming and is intended to lead straight into The Batman Part II, which has been given a release date of October 3rd, 2025.
Ricky Church – Follow me on Twitter for more movie news and nerd talk.
