Why Batman doesn't appear in The Penguin series on Max

Director Matt Reeves admits he tried, but “he’s too powerful a figure!”

In recent days, Oswald Cobblepot has been gaining strength in Gotham. The series The Penguin successfully debuted on Max. But fans of The Batman (2022) wonder: will we see the Dark Knight?

And for good reason, the story of the series takes place only a week after the events of the film. So Bruce Wayne is still very present in the city, still played by Robert Pattinson. Except we won't see it. The director Matt Reeves explains why, in this recent interview with TV Insider (see below).

He confirms that behind-the-scenes discussions took place. But Batman would have threatened to overshadow Oz:

“Batman is such a powerful character that if he had intervened, he could have disrupted the narrative in some way. The whole story would have suddenly turned to Batman. And we wanted it to be Oz's moment (Colin Farrell) , Sofia's (Cristin Milioti) moment, Francis' (Deirdre O'Connell) moment, Vic's (Rhenzy Feliz) moment… We wanted their story to be told and just to see the story of his rise. ..”

Matt Reeves thus admits to having indeed “played with the idea“to introduce Batman at some point in The Penguin. “We tried to find the right moment. But we never really managed to find that moment that didn't work on the basis of what was important, which was their stories, the story of Oz.”

The Penguin continues, every Monday on Max in France. Batman he will come back, to the cinema, in The Batman 2scheduled for September 30, 2026 in theaters.