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The Batman Part 2 will continue the dark, realistic portrayal of Gotham City established in The Batman, which premiered in 2022. The film took viewers through a gritty and atmospheric Gotham characterized by political corruption and moral decay. Two years later, the world was expanded with HBO's The Penguin, which follows Oswald 'Oz' Cobblepot as he rises in Gotham's underworld after the Riddler's catastrophic flood. According to Colin Farrell, who plays Oz, The Batman Part 2 will pick up just a few weeks after the events of The Penguin. While promoting his new film, The Ballad of a Small Player, the actor spoke with ComicBook and revealed:“[The Batman – Part II] will pick up, whatever, a few weeks after the show ended.”This confirmation establishes The Penguin's narrative link between Reeves' 2022 film and its upcoming sequel, connecting the events of both films within a continuous Gotham story.How The Penguin connects to The Batman Part 2Before its release, The Penguin was described by HBO and DC Studios as happening about a week after The Batman. The show begins with Gotham City in chaos following Edward 'The Riddler' Nashton's attack, which destroys the seawall and floods some neighborhoods. In such a volatile environment, Cobblepot sees an opportunity to take control.Over eight episodes, Oz works his way into leading Gotham's crime syndicate. By outwitting and eventually betraying Sofia Falcone, he gains power and becomes the city's new crime boss. His transformation, however, comes at a personal cost. In a 2024 interview with USA Today, series creator Lauren LeFranc said that the story was meant as a rise-to-power arc exploring the emotional toll of ambition.“He couldn't do that without losing so much at the same time. It had to come at a cost, an emotional cost. By the end, Oz really does lose his own humanity at the same time.”The final episode underscores that loss. After killing his closest ally, Victor, and visiting his incapacitated mother, Oz becomes completely isolated. The last shot shows him standing at his penthouse window as the Bat-Signal lights up the Gotham sky, a visual hint that the city’s vigilante will soon return.The Bat-signal and the next chapterThe ending of The Penguin acts as a narrative bridge to The Batman Part 2. In an interview with Variety, LeFranc confirmed that the moment was a deliberate connection to the next film in Reeves’ crime saga.“We were searching for an elegant way to hand off our show to The Batman. It felt correct to have the Bat-Signal to undercut him and say, ‘You have not made it to the top yet. You are living in this fantasy, but there’s a real, larger world out there.''This establishes Gotham as a city still torn apart by the flood and now ruled by a new form of corruption. Although Batman was mostly absent during the series, his return in the sequel indicates a renewed clash between the vigilante and the criminal regime that has taken over in his absence.Colin Farrell’s role in The Batman Part 2A still from the movie The Batman (Image via Warner Bros)Although The Penguin depicts Oz as a prominent underworld figure, Farrell indicated that his role in The Batman Part 2 will be fairly limited. Speaking with Deadline, he said:"I haven’t got much to do on it, just a little bit, I read the script and it’s extraordinary.''Even if the series does not continue, its story directly influences the political and criminal landscape of Gotham that The Batman Part 2 will take over. The Batman Part 2 is currently set to be released on October 1, 2027, with Robert Pattinson returning as the Dark Knight.Also read: Bugonia (2025) cast & characters: Meet the stars behind the film and the roles they play.
