Return to Gotham City with The Penguin issue of Total Film

The Penguin covers of Total Film magazine — (Image credit: Sky/HBO/Total Film)

The covers of the upcoming issue of Total Film have been revealed, and we’re returning to the dark and dangerous criminal underworld of Gotham City to witness the bloody ascent of future-Kingpin Oswald Cobb (Colin Farrell) in The Penguin. He can be seen, alongside Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone and Rhenzy Feliz as Victor Aguilar, on the covers of the new issue, which is landing on shelves on Thursday 12 September. Total Film subscribers will receive their copies shortly.

Set a week after the events of The Batman, which saw crime lord Carmine Falcone killed and Gotham City flooded by The Riddler, The Penguin tracks Cobb’s Scarface-like rise to power as the city’s criminal contingent fight to fill the vacuum at the top. Oz has stiff competition in the shape of Sofia Falcone – aka serial killer The Hangman – and unexpected help from unlikely protege Victor.

The Batman Part 1.5 in all but name, The Penguin is essential viewing ahead of the 2026 superhero sequel and will establish a new (under)world order for Robert Pattinson’s Bats to contend with in Part II. But above all, it’s a rich new story for one of Batman’s most iconic villains. In the cover feature, Total Film talks to stars Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz and Clancy Brown, as well as executive producers Matt Reeves and Dylan Clark, and showrunner Lauren LeFranc about returning to a Gotham on the brink, how the show sets up The Batman Part II and putting The Penguin in the spotlight.

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Look out for more exclusives from The Penguin dropping soon. Elsewhere in the issue, you’ll find deep dives into Sean Baker’s festival hit Anora, emotional Christopher Reeve doc Super/Man and the long-awaited Salem’s Lot remake; as well as a career-spanning chat with Dune: Prophecy star Emily Watson, Ridley Scott on his transformative director’s cuts, Himesh Patel talking superhero spoof The Franchise, a countdown of the 10 best Stephen King movies and exclusive new looks at Gladiator II, Wicked, Smile 2 and Terrifier 3.

Subscribers have the exclusive text-free cover on the way to them right now, with the issue then hitting shops and digital newsstands on Thursday 12 September.

Check out the covers in full below:

Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti and Rhenzy Feliz on the newsstand cover of Total Film's The Penguin issue — (Image credit: Sky/HBO/Total Film)

The subscriber-exclusive cover of The Penguin issue of Total Film — (Image credit: Sky/HBO/Total Film)

I'm the Managing Editor, Entertainment here at GamesRadar+, overseeing the site's film and TV coverage. In a previous life as a print dinosaur, I was the Deputy Editor of Total Film magazine, and the news editor at SFX magazine. Fun fact: two of my favourite films released on the same day - Blade Runner and The Thing.