What time is The Penguin on HBO? Release time & schedule

❘ Published: 2024-09-19T14:08:26

HBO

HBO’s The Penguin, the highly-anticipated spinoff from The Batman, is hours away from its premiere – so, here’s exactly what time it’ll air, plus everything else you should know before the series begins.

In 1966, it was a quaking, top-hatted Burgess Meredith. In 1992, it was the sewer-dwelling, pale-faced Danny DeVito. Now, it’s time for Colin Farrell’s Penguin to make his mark on Gotham.

Introduced in 2022’s The Batman, this incarnation of the legendary villain (with a notable name change) isn’t a kingpin… yet. The Penguin is set to chart his path to power in the wake of the Riddler’s attacks, worming his way through the city’s power struggles as the ultimate underdog.

It’s been a long time coming (and it better be good, considering how long we need to wait for The Batman 2), so if you can’t wait any longer, make sure you know when to tune in.

The Penguin release time

The Penguin premieres on HBO on Thursday, September 19, at 9pm ET/6pm ET. It’ll also be available to stream on Max.

If you’re not based in the US, we’ve got you covered – below, you can find your time zone (sorry, but there’s a good chance you’ll need to stay up late):

Canada (Crave): 9pm
Brazil: 10pm
Portugal and western Europe: 2am (Friday, September 20)
UK (Sky Atlantic): 2am (Friday, September 20)
Spain and central Europe: 3am (Friday, September 20)
Bulgaria and eastern Europe: 4am (Friday, September 20)
India: 6:30am (Friday, September 20)
Australia (Binge): 11am (Friday, September 20)
New Zealand (Sky SoHo): 1pm (Friday, September 20)

It’s a single-episode launch, with the rest of the season airing weekly thereafter.

How many episodes are there?

There are eight episodes in total in The Penguin.

Interestingly, it wasn’t always planned as its own TV series. According to producer Dylan Clark, the spinoff was originally the opening act of The Batman 2, but Farrell’s performance was so well-received that they wanted to get the most out of it.

He explained to Collider: “One of the first drafts of The Batman was long. Matt [Reeves] storyboards in the scripts, and it was just so detailed and delicious, but it was busting at the seams… and then, in a meeting with Casey [Bloys] and Sarah [Aubrey], he said, ‘You know, we could do this.’

“And the Penguin was just the obvious character to do. Colin [Farrell] was so amazing in our movie. He was only in six scenes. When we tested the movie, he always rated at the top with Rob [Pattinson].

“It was like, ‘God, it’s Colin Farrell and he’s such an amazing actor. The way he transforms himself, not just physically but emotionally, inside this character, wouldn’t it be fun to do a gangster show around this guy?’

“And then, Casey was like, ‘I want that.’ Matt had to part with some of the ideas that he wanted to explore in movie two. That rise to power Scarface story that is the beginning of this series was the beginning of movie two.”

The Penguin release schedule

Weirdly, Episode 1 of The Penguin is the only episode that’s airing on a Thursday. The rest of the series will be released on Sundays, echoing HBO’s schedule for House of the Dragon and its other shows.

Episode 1: Thursday, September 19
Episode 2: Sunday, September 29
Episode 3: Sunday, October 6
Episode 4: Sunday, October 13
Episode 5: Sunday, October 20
Episode 6: Sunday, October 27
Episode 7: Sunday, November 3
Episode 8 (finale): Sunday, November 8

The Batman is also available to stream on Max, so if you get bored in the week-long wait for another episode… you know what to do.

What’s it about?

The Penguin will follow Colin Farrell’s titular villain as he rises to power in a fractured, damp Gotham – but he’ll have to contend with Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milloti), seeking to regain control of her late father’s empire after a stint in Arkham Asylum.

Don’t expect to see the caped crusader, either. This is effectively the Penguin’s origin story, and it’ll set up The Batman 2.

“We’re in Oz’s world. We’re living in the underbelly of the city,” LeFranc told Entertainment Weekly.

“Oz is a mover and a shaker. He can’t always be trusted. He’s very smart and very methodical, but he’s also extremely impulsive. You can’t predict what he’s going to do.

“We are the bridge between the two films. We’re going almost directly into the second film Matt has planned.”

The Penguin cast

Colin Farrell leads The Penguin cast as the titular wannabe mob boss, also known as Oz Cobb. Cristin Milloti, best known for playing the Mother in How I Met Your Mother, plays Sofia Falcone.

The cast also includes:

Rhenzy Feliz as Victor Aguilar
Michael Kelly as Johnny Viti
Shohreh Aghdashloo asNadia Maroni
Deirdre O’Connell as Francis Cobb
Clancy Brown as Salvatore Maroni
James Madio as Milos Grapa
Scott Cohen as Luca Falcone
Michael Zegen as Alberto Falcone
Carmen Ejogo as Eve Karlo
Theo Rossi as Dr. Julian Rush
Mark Strong as Carmine Falcone

Speaking to MovieZine (via AV Club), Farrell said he had a “really wonderful experience” reprising the role, and warned that it’s darker than fans will expect.

“It’s really dark. It’s really heavy, I think – it certainly was doing it. Which is not to say I didn’t have fun, I had an amazing time. But it’s incredibly violent. It’s one man’s rise to what he’s always dreamed of inhabiting, which is a certain power or social status.”