“The essence of the Penguin is the essence of the Penguin.”
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That was Minnie Driver’s response when asked to address fears of potential backlash from hyper-critical fans after “Batman: Caped Crusader’s” announced their decision to gender-swap the villainous Penguin.
“Here’s the thing: If it hadn’t been so beautifully imagined or reimagined, if it had somehow just been shoehorned in to tick some box of ‘Oh, we have to now have a fluidity around characters,’ That’s not it. The essence of the Penguin is the essence of the Penguin,” Driver said. “She’s properly evil. She really does some terrible things, and I hope that she will be embraced as the villain that she always has been.”
She concluded by saying: “The essence of this show is quintessentially Batman. Make no mistake, and the fact that the Penguin is a really terrifying woman speaks volumes about the imagination of Bruce [Timm] and the whole team.”
Driver was joined by cast members Hamish Linklater (Batman/Bruce Wayne) and Jamie Chung (Harley Quinn) at Variety’s Comic-Con Studio, presented by Google TV, at the 2024 San Diego Comic-Con to chat about Prime Video’s upcoming Batman series, which will air on the streamer on Aug. 1st.
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Linklater was asked about the pressure he felt to portray the iconic hero after Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy’s recent passing. Conroy was the voice behind Batman in the original animated series that inspired “Caped Crusader” and numerous other projects that have touched nearly every corner of the Dark Knight’s repertoire, including films, shows and video games.
“When I finally heard the results of it [his Batman voice], it was quite—I hope—close to him. I hope it doesn’t give the viewer a bump,” he said. “There are wonderful reimaginings of so many characters in this series, but I hope that… I don’t know. I’m just desperate to honor the amazing legacy that Kevin left behind.”
Watch the full interview above to find out which Batman villain is each cast member’s favorite and what is at the top of their “must-watch” list.
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