Danny DeVito Is Hilariously Warning Colin Farrell About Playing Penguin

The Penguin is one of Batman's most enduring villains, and the avian-themed outlaw is set to make his return in Matt Reeves' upcoming take on the Dark Knight mythos, The Batman. Outside of Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins, the movie is set earlier in the titular hero's timeline than we usually see on screen, and Robert Pattinson's version of the Caped Crusader will be a lot closer to the beginning of his crime-fighting career than we're used to. With that in mind, the Penguin will also be relatively early in his villainy, preferring to go by his real name, Oswald Cobblepot, and treating his famous supervillain callsign as little more than an unwanted nickname. However, his look's already getting there, judging by the movie's DC FanDome trailer, which shows Colin Farrell absolutely buried under disfiguring facial prosthetics that give him a realistic version of the character's signature nose and jowls.

Of course, Farrell is hardly the first actor to portray the Peng — err, Mr. Cobblepot under a mountain of makeup. In 1992, the inestimable Danny DeVito brought the character to gloriously wicked life in Tim Burton's Batman Returns, where the diminutive criminal mastermind joined forces with Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Max Shreck (Christopher Walken) against Michael Keaton's Batman. As such, the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia star is probably the most qualified person around to advise Farrell in his role — and it just so happens that DeVito has issued Farrell a hilarious warning about playing the Penguin.

In an interview with Collider, DeVito discussed his various projects, and found the time to deliver a few choice words about his successor as the Penguin. He's already quite familiar with Farrell, having worked with him in the 2019 live-action adaptation of Dumbo. As such, DeVito made it clear he has the utmost belief that his colleague will nail the role in The Batman. "I haven't spoken to him since [Dumbo], but I'm really looking forward to it," DeVito said. "I think that no matter what, he's gonna be great because he's a great actor." 

However, DeVito did have a lighthearted word of warning to Farrell. "The only thing he has to worry about is that Oswald Cobblepot will show up at his house," the actor laughed, punctuating the playful threat with his signature Penguin grunt from Batman Returns. Like many things about Danny DeVito, this leaves the viewer with numerous questions that the interview sadly didn't elaborate on. Does DeVito plan on turning up on Farrell's door in full Penguin regalia if he doesn't think the Irishman's take on the role is on point? Is he going to do it if Farrell is good enough? Or is DeVito just going to do it anyway, and the two will spend the evening going "Waugh!" and discussing how to defeat Batman while hanging out in their respective Penguin costumes? Regardless of the answer, we now kind of want to see them do a "two Penguins" buddy movie. 

The Batman (and the Penguin) will soar into theaters on October 1, 2021.