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The Penguin Always Had to End Like This


No villain origin story is complete without one final, excruciating heel turn.

Oz had the comic book character’s limp, top hat, and fondness for the color purple (or, as he insists to Sofia Gigante, plum), but he also had Tony Soprano’s demanding mother and desire for a normal home life; Walter White’s ruthless, many-steps-ahead scheming; and Jax Teller’s heavy-weighs-the-crown existential burden. Because underneath all his youse-guys bluster and loyalty-always-loyalty speechifying, Oz is a bad guy who works for one person — himself — and it’s a fantastic trick of performance from Farrell to make him so likable in his brutish warmth and so charming with those throaty chuckles, approving pats on Vic’s shoulder, and sarcastic asides. But with three heartbreaking murders under his belt, the city under his thumb, and The Batman: Part II looming, Oz Cobb is standing tall at the end of The Penguin, redefining the character and readying him for a return to whatever future version of Gotham beckons him back home.

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