Why The Penguin Recast One Of Matt Reeves’ The Batman Actors For A Pivotal Role
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The events of Matt Reeves’ The Batman saw crime lord Carmine Falcone being fatally shot by Edward Nashton, a.k.a. The Riddler, as part of his plot to expose corruption in Gotham City. But we’re not done spending time with this longtime Batman villain just yet, as Falcone is set to appear in the upcoming DC TV show The Penguin through flashbacks. However, instead of being reprised by John Turturro, Mark Strong is taking over playing Carmine, and showrunner Lauren LeFranc explained to CinemaBlend why this pivotal role was recast.
Our own Sean O’Connell had the opportunity to speak with LeFranc ahead of the Colin Farrell-led The Penguin premiering to HBO viewers and Max subscription holders this Thursday on the 2024 TV schedule. Although Strong playing Carmine Falcone was only just revealed to the public, Sean was privy to this knowledge ahead of time, so he asked the showrunner why Strong was selected to play Carmine and if Turturro was asked back. She answered:
John Turturro is just, he's a busy actor, you know? So his schedule made it really tricky for us. But honestly, I think what Mark Strong did was so exceptional. It would've been great to have John, but I'm really excited for people to see what Mark does with the role because he's really – he's very intimidating, and very emotional.
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While it would have been welcome seeing John Turturro getting to spend a little more time in Carmine Falcone’s shoes, it’s completely understandable that scheduling conflicts prevented this from happening. After all, The Penguin was filming around the same time as the second season of Severance, the Apple TV+ show where Turturro is a series regular alongside people like Adam Scott, Dichen Lachman, Christopher Walken and Patricia Arquette. With that and other projects taking up his time, it’s no wonder he didn’t have time for The Penguin.
Fortunately, Mark Strong is a talented actor in his own right, so I’m eager to see how he does playing Carmine Falcone in this The Batman spinoff series. This is Strong’s third DC role, as he previously played Sinestro in Green Lantern and Thaddeus Sivana in the Shazam! movies. Here’s how he’ll look as Carmine:
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Carmine Falcone may be gone from The Batman world, but his criminal enterprise lives on, which includes his children Sofia, played by Cristin Milioti, and Alberto, played by Michael Zegen. Other major players in The Penguin’s cast include Clancy Brown’s Sal Maroni, Rhenzy Felix’s Victor Aguilar, Michael Kelly’s Johnny Vitti and Shohreh Aghdashloo’s Nadia Maroni, among others. Lauren LeFranc wrote both the premiere and the finale, and the miniseries’ directors include Craig Zabel and Helen Shaver.
Keep visiting CinemaBlend for more coverage on The Penguin. Also, don’t forget that Colin Farrell will reprise Oz Cobb in The Batman: Part II, which hits theaters on October 2, 2026.
