Batman: Caped Crusader reveals first look at Penguin

Prime Video has debuted the first look at the Penguin from Batman: Caped Crusader voiced by Minnie Driver.

The villains of Batman: Caped Crusader have been slowly revealed ahead of the series debut, and the latest to be shown is The Penguin. The series is going in a different direction with this iteration with it being a woman named Oswalda Cobblepot.

Welcome to Gotham City, where the corrupt outnumber the good, criminals run rampant and law-abiding citizens live in a constant state of fear. Forged in the fire of tragedy, wealthy socialite Bruce Wayne becomes something both more and less than human—the BATMAN. His one-man crusade attracts unexpected allies within the GCPD and City Hall, but his heroic actions spawn deadly, unforeseen ramifications.

Hamish Linklater (Midnight Mass) is Batman, Christina Ricci (Wednesday) is Catwoman, Jamie Chung (Sucker Punch) is Harley Quinn, Diedrich Bader (Batman: The Brave and the Bold) will be Harvey Dent, with more roles to be announced in the future for McKenna Grace, Reid Scott, Dane Donohue, Gary Anthony Williams, Jason Watkins, John Dimaggio, Krystal Joy Brown, Michelle C. Bonilla, Eric Morgan Stuart, Tom Kenny, and Minnie Driver.

Batman: Caped Crusader was picked up for two seasons by Amazon's Prime Video, and is scheduled to debut its first season on Aug. 1.

81 comments

FallenWhoLaughs

July 27, 2024

Yikes

Kaingerc

July 27, 2024

This is the first change in this show that feels REALLY forced ("Oswalda"?! Really?!)

Sara

July 27, 2024

My condolences to Penguin fans who didn't want this.

I am personally more bothered by the lack of definition in Batman's musculature in every single still released. I don't care that that's how he was drawn in the earliest comics. Those aren't a fighting man's arms.

Mr Smith1466
July 28, 2024
As a penguin fan, I'm excited for something different. I love different approaches to characters. Like how the Arkham games made him Cockney. Or how Burton made him a crazy sewer monster. Or how the Gotham show did their own spin.
As long as you honor the core aspect of the character, which, with Penguin, is pretty simple, since Penguin is a flamboyant organised criminal. Everything else is open to interpretation.
The whole of caped crusader is experimenting with new spins on characters. Bruce Timm has been blatantly clear he didn't want a rehash of the 90's series.
1. Sara
  July 28, 2024
  More power to you if you like her. I like the Burtonverse Penguin, myself, but I know plenty of people hate him. I don't hate the idea of Femguin. I'm sympathetic to fans who were let down, though. I was miffed that Harvey Dent was changed to begin as a bad man since I've always loved the character as a fallen angel.
  These characters have been around for over eighty years. People are going to have feelings about the changes.
  1. Mr Smith1466
    July 28, 2024
    People shouldn't have negative feelings about elseworlds stories taking different approaches. The more traditional penguin is going nowhere. He can be seen in numerous media, including a comic he currently stars in and an exciting upcoming TV series. That's in addition to his numerous recent video games, and movie appearances.
    At the end of the day, these things aren't getting worked up over. And Minnie Driver voicing a tough lady gangster super villain in a 1930's noir cartoon sounds awesome to me.
    Point of caped crusader existing at all was that Timm and Brubaker and the other creatives wanted to do fresh things, and not just rehash what the 90's cartoon already did.
    1. Sara
      July 28, 2024
      "Shouldn't" is moot. They do.
      One of the changes I dislike most is Harley being Bruce's therapist because I'm sick to death of her and the way she's given a starring role in every fvcking thing DC releases. It doesn't matter to me that this is a different, elseworlds Harley. She's still Harley, after a fashion, and I still want her to go the hell away. I don't mind that she's an Asian lesbian without a connection to the Joker (or fused to the Joker or whatever this is). She's probably a better character in this show than in the current comics. She'd pretty much have to be. I don't care. I just don't want her around.
      Some people get mad because that's their real hobby, but fans, too, are going to carry feelings of one kind or another about the characters over into the show.
    2. Mr Smith1466
      July 28, 2024
      Understandable why Bruce Timm wants to use Harley.
      I'm a fan too. As long as an interpretation honors the character, I'm fine for experimental tweaks.
    3. Sara
      July 28, 2024
      Clinging to self-referential non-answers as always, I see.
    4. Mr Smith1466
      July 28, 2024
      As I said, understandable why Bruce timm is using her. He co-created her after all. I personally love the character. She's richly written and being done in a unique way here.
  2. Robin MB
    July 28, 2024
    Dang I didn't know that about Harvey. That's a change I don't like
Madeleine
July 28, 2024
God, the arms. Bruce has that perfect face, those magnificent shoulders, and... the rest is shapeless when it should be sculpted...
I've grown quite fond of the dare I say Alain Delonesque beauty of the show's Harvey Dent.
I have not got over the change to his moral sense or the very probable loss of their friendship.
The show is going to be a mixed bag for me, with some reinterpretations I'm very keen to see and some I'm not so keen on. I don't see a problem with that. I have my own deal breakers but I'm not habitually an all-or-nothing person.
1. Sara
  July 28, 2024
  Yes, a perfect face and a slightly less than meh physique for Bruce. Not sure what happened there but I hope they fix it by Season 2.
  I like the lightly southern European touches to Harvey's physiognomy, too. They were there in TAS, but the artist for Caped Crusader toned down the gangster and brought out the lover. A good call, imo.
  If there's one side of the show that I'm very favorable towards, it's the character designs.
  Harley needs to die, though.

Mr Smith1466

July 27, 2024

Fun to do new things in an elseworlds and this is 100% an elseworlds.

Mr Smith1466
July 28, 2024
When something like this is explicitly an elseworlds story. Every character has been reinterpreted here. That's literally why this particular series exists.

Robin MB

July 27, 2024

I can already imagine all the comments here lol

Edit: I love being proven right

thee Patriot

July 27, 2024

SO STUPID TO DO A WOMAN PENGUIN!!

V3geta

July 28, 2024

This is not the first time a popular villain has been gendered swapped, it happens all the time in both Marvel and DC. Classic Penguin is not going anywhere, especially with the new show coming out later this year.

V3geta
July 28, 2024
That wasn't a justification, it was a simple fact. This will very likely be the one and only time we see this female Penguin, so you can take your red hat off and calm down.
1. Wasp14
  July 28, 2024
  Assuming someone’s political opinions because they’re not a fan of this is ridiculous. You don’t even know if they’re American.
  1. V3geta
    July 28, 2024
    "I already knew from the trailer this series is woke asf."
    It's pretty obvious where this person leans politically.
    1. Robin MB
      July 28, 2024
      Yeah woke is one of those boogeyman dog whistle words that tells you all you need to know lol
    2. Kara
      July 28, 2024
      You’d be surprised. Especially out of the US most people turn their nose up at forced Wokery.
Kara
July 28, 2024
Doesn’t make it right.
Boycee
July 28, 2024
You still watch wrestling even though it's the worst show on television and has been borefest garbage for over a decade at this point.
AKA you're the dictionary defintion of a 🤡🤡🤡
1. Boycee
  July 30, 2024
  "Fans and critics are saying wrestling today is at its best since the Attitude Era. Many people agree that wrestling became cool again."
  🤣🤣🤣🤣 Christ almighty, imagine genuinely being this delusional and warped.
  Newsflash, smart guy: The literal only people spouting that embarrassing nonsense are the echo-chamber of 12 year old stans who don't any better and fanboy marks who have repeatedly proven they will forever watch anything with "wrestling" in the title.
  What's your next big "gotcha" moment? Saying Pokemon fanboys who have Pokemon bedsheets, play with Pokemon cards and Pokemon videogames all day every day think Pokemon is currently "the best it's ever been!" LOL wowwwwwww i'm shocked beyond shocked.
  Cody Rhodes is objectively the least cool person on the planet, and that's supposed to be the equivalent of THE ROCK for this generation. It's pathetic and embarrassing.
  P.S. I just looked at the match line-up for Summerslam (AKA the second biggest wrestling show of the year) and all I can say is......YIKES! Late 90's episodes of Sunday Night Heat had better matches, and 50 times bigger stars.
  Conclusion: Keep wasting your life watching the single worst show on television 😉
  1. Boycee
    July 30, 2024
    Genius triggered non-response, marky mark 👏
    Enjoy another "epic" day on the keyboard/in the basement watching the equivalent of X-Pac vs Dean Malenko main event SummerSlam 😊
    1. Seek Help Tony
      July 30, 2024
      Do you rub your nipples to your clown emojis?
      It doesn't seem like you can live without them :- (

Wasp14

July 28, 2024

This looks terrible, seems really forced in a bad way. Batman has such an amazing rogues gallery of female villains, why do this? This won’t age well.

Mr Smith1466
July 28, 2024
They're literally using Harley Quinn as the primary series antagonist.
Why won't this age well? It's a different universe with different takes. Every character has had a little shift done to them here.

Kara

July 28, 2024

And… I’m out.

Boycee
July 28, 2024
And.....no one cares.
Seethe forever X- )
1. Kara
  July 29, 2024
  You cared enough to comment, sweetie
  1. Boycee
    July 30, 2024
    And you cared enough to comment/rage-fart all over this comment section only about 412 times, sugar pie.
    Which is all a totally rational and completely normal response to "Batman villain now with boobs" XD XD XD XD
  2. Boycee
    July 30, 2024
    And you cared enough to comment/rage-fart all over this comment section only about 412 times, sugar pie.
    Which is all a totally rational and completely normal response to "Batman villain now with a higher pitched voice" XD XD XD XD
    1. Kara
      July 30, 2024
      Your rage is literally jumping off the page.😄
      A handful of comments is a little shy of the 400+ comments than you claim i made.
      Look, you look silly replying to someone you claim you don’t care about what they say. And tue more you engage, the sillier you look.
    2. Boycee
      July 30, 2024
      You objectively live on this site cluelessly crying 24/7, Princess.
      And it's a laughably easy process to distinguish the actual normal/half-intelligent users in this comment section (AKA Robin MB, Mr Smith etc) from the certain other oh-so highly successful members of society who genuinely type phrases such as "forced wokery" non-ironically. Plus you're in the company of other obvious life-winners such as the guy touting fake wrestling in 2024 as "absolutely must-see tv"
      Need I say more?
      No. I do not ;- )
    3. Kara
      July 30, 2024
      Ah, yes; the classic tactic from the enraged male chauvinist, use demeaning and derogatory language against a woman while trying to play one user off against another for brownie points.
    4. Boycee
      July 30, 2024
      A chauvinist? When was this exactly?
      If you're talking about me labeling you a "princess" I use that near-exclusively for guy commenters when they're acting like literal man-babies/karens/princesses, etc.
      The conclusion is you're not watching the show (allegedly) for what I and most others would classify as a laughably petty and illogical reason. But whatever makes you feel better 👍

Robin MB

July 28, 2024

Wow this site really has gone downhill with the new owners. An alt-right den of people whining about a fictional characters gender in a cartoon and un-ironically using the word woke. It's not like this is the actual comics it's a bloody cartoon. https://boundingintocomics.com/ is down the hall lol

Mr Smith1466
July 28, 2024
It's definitely sad to see.
V3geta
July 28, 2024
What gets me is that classic characters getting an alternate makeover has been happening for decades. In 2010 we got a female Joker (Martha Wayne) and no one said a thing about it. Why is it such an issue now ?
1. Kara
  July 28, 2024
  Maybe people have had a gut full of it by this point.
2. jrvc
  July 28, 2024
  That's not a good comparison. That Joker was just temporary during a finite event within a main universe. This Penguin is the main Penguin in this show
  1. V3geta
    July 28, 2024
    This show will also be finite, as it's only 10 episodes long. Do you really think we'll never get classic Penguin in animation again ? In Batman the animated series back in the 90s, we got a Calendar Girl instead of Calendar Man. It wasn't a big deal, and neither should this be.
    1. Mr Smith1466
      July 28, 2024
      It's also funny to me that people get up in arms about this. Mr Freeze didn't have a frozen wife motivating his villainy until Paul Dini and Bruce Timm decided he did. Renee Montoya wasn't a lesbian, until Greg Rucka decided she was.
      It's really funny and kind of troubling that grown adults are distressed that a one off cartoon show decided to do something different with a character like penguin.
    2. Sara
      July 28, 2024
      I basically agree with you about the Penguin, but your Mr Freeze and Renee Montoya examples aren't helping your argument. They prove that changes made to a character in one medium can transfer over to another and became the new status quo.
    3. Mr Smith1466
      July 28, 2024
      They're not going to suddenly change Penguin into a woman in other media. Colin Farrell isn't going anywhere.
    4. Sara
      July 28, 2024
      I said I agree with you about the Penguin.
      Way to dodge my point. You have contradicted yourself. Changes in one "one off" version of Batman demonstrably can and do carry over to other versions. Some people just like to get mad, but everyone is also aware of the massive impact TAS had on the Batman comics. Any discussion involving Harley Quinn in any way is going to have to admit that fact.
    5. Mr Smith1466
      July 28, 2024
      No, my point is that adapting characters means that making tweaks here and there is fine. Someone has to be the first to do something new.
    6. Sara
      July 28, 2024
      "Fun to do new things in an elseworlds and this is 100% an elseworlds."
      "People shouldn't have negative feelings about elseworlds stories taking different approaches."
      "None of these tweaks are permanent, or meant to expand beyond the parameters of what this cartoon is doing."
      Sounds to me like you were saying this show won't have an impact beyond itself. Now you're saying that it could.
      Not every negative reaction is from someone being negative on auto-pilot. There's a difference between an anti-wokester who gets mad about everything because that's his high, and a fan who worries about the possible long term consequences of a creative decision. It could be something cosmetic, like the color of Two-Face's suits, or more substantial, like the way introducing Harley Quinn or Nora Fries effected Joker and Mr Freeze.
    7. Mr Smith1466
      July 28, 2024
      Anyone with half a brain identifies that this show is an elseworlds and understands that any character experiments here are nothing to worry about.
      No reason to get worried or angry about ANY aspect in an elseworlds project.
      The people making this know what the established characters are. Any tweaks made are purely to do something different and not due to any misunderstandings with the characters.
      The caped crusader two face has me very excited. I love the flip that two face is immoral person forced to find morality due to his accident. Rather than a moral person becoming immoral due to the accident. That's a genius way to do a fresh take.
      Same with the far darker interpretation of Harley. Love it. And Minnie driver as a tough old lady penguin? Sign me up.
      Sit back and enjoy the ride. A lot of fun to look forward to here.
    8. Sara
      July 28, 2024
      As self-contradictory as you are self-referential.
      Talking to you is like trying to hold a conversation with a Magic 8-Ball.
      Enjoy the show and stop telling other people how to feel about every "genius" decision.
    9. Mr Smith1466
      July 29, 2024
      I suggest you enjoy it as well. Or simply enjoy one of of countless other batman media products more to your liking.
    10. Kara
      July 29, 2024
      I bet you $10 we see a female butch penguin in the comics within 3 years.
    11. Mr Smith1466
      July 29, 2024
      In the mainline comics or in a side line?
    12. Robin MB
      July 29, 2024
      I'd just ignore them tbh
    13. Mr Smith1466
      July 29, 2024
      I really should. You're the only person here I've seen making sense. Very sad what's happened to this page. I should stick to the comic part of the site.
    14. Robin MB
      July 29, 2024
      Yeah I made the mistake of engaging too much. You can see the results above lol
    15. V3geta
      July 28, 2024
      "Mr Freeze and Renee Montoya prove that changes made to a character in one medium can transfer over to another and became the new status quo."
      This only happens with lesser known characters. Mr. Freeza was a joke character before BTAS, so any changes made to him anywhere would've stuck around. The Penguin is one of the most well known and respected Batman characters ever created. Such a drastic change like this is very, very unlikely to leave the medium it originated in.
    16. Sara
      July 28, 2024
      It's wild how I can keep saying that I agree that the Penguin won't be made into a woman in other media, even right there in the comment you just replied to, yet people keep going back to that.
      Literally nobody in these comments has suggested the Penguin will be turned into a woman in the comics. Most of them are b-tching about "wokeness" without going into further detail.
      What MY point is, is that changes made in one medium or iteration are not automatically restricted to it. People, including yourself, keep stressing that this is an elseworld. It doesn't matter. No one in his right mind, giving it even a moment's thought, can believe that changes made in Caped Crusader couldn't influence the comics in some form.
    17. Kara
      July 29, 2024
      Harley has been homosexual for a long time now. This stuff is insidious. Like gangrene it will spread and take root.
    18. Robin MB
      July 29, 2024
      Oh no not the gays! Are we sure this isn't Chuck Dixon's secret account
    19. Kara
      July 29, 2024
      Get that c0ck out of your mouth, son.
    20. Kara
      July 29, 2024
      Chuck Dixon is responsible for creating amazing comics. What have you created or any worth lately?
      What is your contribution to society?
    21. Robin MB
      July 29, 2024
      Ah yes the amazing Alt*Hero Q....a book written by an actual . Actually you'd probably like that. Again why don't you and all the other whiners go to https://boundingintocomics.com/ you'll fit right in
    22. Robin MB
      July 29, 2024
      Ah yes the amazing Alt*Hero Q....a book written by an actual White Supremacist . Actually you'd probably like that. Again why don't you and all the other whiners go to https://boundingintocomics.com/ you'll fit right in. There is a reason people don't like to praise ol Chuck these days
    23. Kara
      July 29, 2024
      Oh grow up, you man-child; calling everyone you disagree with politically Alt-right and white supremacist is played out and corny at this point. The words have lost their power; you have done a massive disservice to the people that suffered at the hands of true evil.
      Still waiting to hear all about your creative accomplishments though.
    24. Robin MB
      July 29, 2024
      He's gone on record as saying he is as far to the right as Genghis Khan and is working with an actual N**zi so idk what more ya want lol. Comics are gonna keep changing and swapping genders in adaptions and adding in *gasp* the gays(btw Harley was always written with homosexuality subtext with Ivy) so maybe comics aren't for people like you anymore sorry I guess.
      And oh I didn't create anything so I guess you win then
    25. Kara
      July 29, 2024
      Stop babbling. I Can’t even take you seriously. Comics aren’t like anyone. They are pure fantasy. You enjoy fantasying about having a homosexual relationship, I fantasise about flying and wearing a cape. I buy what I like, you buy what you like. I wonder why comics are floundering… whatever reason could there be… 🤔😁
    26. Robin MB
      July 29, 2024
      Not fantasizing about anything lmao(although I'm sure if I was you'd preach about how wicked I am). I just don't care if a character happens to be gay because I'm not a homophobe. Ah yes the argument that "wokeness" is killing sales, classic Comicsgate move. DC nor Marvel seem like they'll be for Conservatives anytime soon so many it's time to move on
    27. Kara
      July 29, 2024
      You hate Muslims. You hate Jews. You hate Christians. You hate Hindus. You hate God, Christ, and Muhammad.
      You are a hateful bigot who can’t accept that other people do not share your beliefs. YOU are intolerant.
      It’s time that you accept the plain and undeniable truth: that you are a minority in this world. You do not have the right to attack people because they think differently than you or like different things than you. Allow people to express their love or displeasure of something with being called names. How about that? How about some civility?
      Here’s another fact for you: the comic book industry is dying. We all know why. They stopped giving the people what they wanted and started pandering to a small segment of non-comic book buying people on social media that screen real loud. The art is often atrocious, and the stories, weak.
    28. Robin MB
      July 29, 2024
      Heheh so because I don't hate gay people I hate all religions wow. I don't care that people think different but when they hate people based on sexuality, race, gender etc etc, that's not something I can support. Done with this nonsense, should have been done earlier
    29. jrvc
      July 29, 2024
      can you please point where I happen to minimally imply what you say there?
      I just said both characters the other commenter compared were totally different, and appeared in totally different situations, that's it
  2. Mr Smith1466
    July 28, 2024
    Good lord, we have a male penguin getting both a starring tv series in September, and that same male penguin being confirmed to return to the second batman movie.
    The caped crusader show has a two season order, with 10 episodes each, and Bruce Timm has been blatantly clear its not kicking off an expanded universe.
    This new penguin is just temporary in this short run cartoon show. Same as Omanonopeia being reinterpreted an as old timey gangster assassin in the same show.
    None of these tweaks are permanent, or meant to expand beyond the parameters of what this cartoon is doing.
    Batman comics are not going to suddenly shift back to the 1930's because this cartoon is, and Penguin isn't permanently becoming a woman in other adaptations of batman.
    1. jrvc
      July 29, 2024
      I never said this new Penguin was going to take the mantle now, I'm not even saying is good or bad. I just said both characters you compared were totally different, and appeared in totally different situations, that's it
Wilkes
July 28, 2024
Exactly. Nice to see actual intelligence/actual common sense on display here for a change.
Like seriously, imagine genuinely being triggered by this. It's literally The Penguin with lipstick! LOL Snowflake man-babies will never change.
ItzSilentStorm
July 28, 2024
This place has always been pretty weird about this kind of stuff. I don't know the purpose of gender swapping Penguin, but I will reserve judgement until I actually see it in action. We'll see how it is in execution, and how good the rest of the show is. A lot of commenters here have a habit of overreacting to things before really giving it an actual chance.

Wilkes

July 28, 2024

And cue the neckbeard snowflake meltdown in 3......2......oh it already started, what a shocker!

I seriously hope any of you dorks raging about this have never called anyone else a "karen". Because if you have.....OOF, the hypocrisy XD XD XD XD

da da da

July 28, 2024

If it's well done and the story's good, I don't care of the gender swap.

My interest is over

July 28, 2024

We just got done seeing Victor Fries become Victoria Fries/Ma’am Freeze, did we really need a lazy gender swapped version of Penguin as well?

Even if you like the idea of a female version of Penguin, that has to be the worst character design ever. It just looks the Paul Williams TNBA version wearing lipstick and earrings. People have been split on versions of Oswald in things like “Gotham” or “The Batman” but least those designs were unique, and fit the character well in their own universes.

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