The Batman star John Turturro has revealed why he didn't reprise his role as Gotham crime lord Carmine Falcone in the new HBO spin-off show The Penguin.
"I did what I wanted to with the role," said Turturro in an interview with Variety. "In the show, there was a lot of violence towards women, and that’s not my thing." Instead, The King’s Man star Mark Strong plays the Mafia boss in the series.
The Penguin is set right after the events of The Batman. But despite Falcoine dying in the 2022 movie, we see him in flashbacks in the show as his daughter Sofia Falcone remembers him. In this regard, it is probably more fitting that Strong is playing the character, as Falcone would be 10 years younger in Sofia’s memories, as he sent her away to Arkham Asylum over a decade ago.
As for the violence against women, so far in the show it has all but been confirmed that Falcone killed his wife and Sofia’s mother, with his daughter finding out about the murder being the very reason Sofia was sent away. Although we are yet to see the act take place, if Turtorro’s comments prove true, there may be some horrific scenes to come. The actor stated later in the interview that Falcone’s cruelty in The Batman "happens off-screen" and is implied, adding "It’s scarier that way".
However, Batman fans have been quick to point out that we do in fact see Falcone being extremely violent towards women in the movie. "Your character choked Selina after hitting her in the face with a pool cue in the movie," pointed out one fan on Twitter. Despite a lot of Falcone’s actions being implied such as him killing Selina’s mother and her best friend, we do actually see him strangle his love child Selina AKA Catwoman. With this in mind, Turturro may have also turned down the role due to scheduling conflicts, as he admits: "You can’t do everything you want to."
The show follows gangster Oz Cobb AKA The Penguin’s rise up Gotham’s mafia scene and stars an unrecognizable Colin Farrell in the lead role. The cast also includes Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone, Clancy Brown as Salvatore Maroni, Rhenzy Feliz as Victor Aguilar, and Deirdre O'Connell as Francis Cobb.
