Perhaps we haven’t seen the last ofDanny DeVitoas Oswald Cobblepot. More than three decades ago, DeVito played The Penguin opposite Michael Keaton’s Batman in the 1992 sequelBatman Returns. More recently, Keaton reprised his role as Batman from that film inThe Flash. The exciting return has had some fans wondering if other characters from Tim Burton’s Batman movies could also be showing up in a future DC project, and while nothing is official, DeVito says he’d be up for returning as The Penguin with a multiverse cameo.
“I would definitely consider doing it, yeah,” DeVito told SFX magazine, perGamesRadar. “Batman Returnswas a great part, it was operatic. You could just pull out all the stops. There were so many motivating things, so many things churning up inside of him.”
DeVito continued, “Being the odd man out – the odd bird out – brought the character out of me. It was an emotional experience for me because I felt it was an opportunity of a lifetime to play Oswald Cobblepot with Tim’s vision and design. Tim is a genius to me.”
At that point in the interview, DeVito is said to have grabbed his Penguin umbrella fromBatman Returns, having kept the prop close to him after all these years.
“That is the original Penguin’s umbrella,” DeVito said, before belting out his Penguin voice and adding, “Yeah, it’s here. It’s here! It’s mine! What? You got a problem with that?”
It seems like DeVito is all set to go for a return as The Penguin. Whether that ends up happening remains to be seen, asThe Flashdidn’t perform as well as Warner Bros. had been hoping for, despite featuring the anticipated return of Michael Keaton’s Batman. Even so, a multiverse return for DeVito’s Oswald Cobblepot is still always possible. Meanwhile, fans can next see DeVito in Disney’s newHaunted Mansionmovie, releasing on July 28.
Related:10 Movies You Might Not Have Known Were Produced by Danny DeVito
The (New) Penguin Gets His Own Series
These days, there’s a new Penguin in town, and he’s portrayed by Colin Farrell. In last year’s hit filmThe Batman, Farrell briefly appeared as a new incarnation of Oswald Cobblepot and nearly stole the whole show. He’s taking center stage in a spinoff series that’s in development for a streaming release on Max, chronicling the rise of Oz as one of the most powerful supervillains in Gotham.
While Farrell’s Penguin has drawn some high praise, DeVito still prefers his own version. He recently told Vanity Fair, while hooked up to a lie detector, that he thought Farrell was a “terrific guy,” but he still declared theBatman ReturnsPenguin to be the best.
“I love Colin. He’s a terrific guy. My Penguin’s better,” DeVito said. “Was that the truth? It certainly was, in my opinion. It’s my opinion, yeah. Good man, though. Colin’s a good guy.”
An animated version of The Penguin can also be seen in the popular animated seriesHarley Quinnon Max. That version of the umbrella-carrying supervillain is voiced by Wayne Knight. The character is also voiced by Jess Harnell in the children’s animated seriesBatwheels.
