THE PINGUIN Producer Talks About Decision to Change Penguin’s Name to ‘Oz Cobb’

The producer of the DC series The penguin, Author: Dylan Clarkfaced the decision to change Ozwald Cobblepot’s name to Oz Cobb in the series.

As you might imagine, some fans aren’t happy about the name change. But the creative team was looking for something a little more grounded in reality.

In an interview with SFX Magazine, Clark said, “They never got around to changing his name in the comics like they did with the Riddler, going from Edward Nigma to Edward Nashton, from an unreal name to a real name. By doing that, they really grounded the character.”

He continued: “We’ve had a lot of conversations with DC Comics and with Jim Lee. [President, Publisher and Chief Creative Officer]They had considered changing his name at one point, but never did.

“Matt said, ‘Can I call our character Oz Cobb?’ And Jim said, ‘Of course!’ So we got a blessing from the king himself. That little change in name allowed us to look at this character in a real way.”

Writer and showrunner Lauren LeFranc added, “Matt created a new canon in his movie, and I’m creating a new canon in this show. We have characters that are familiar to you, but they have a different twist.

“It felt like in the Gotham City that Matt created in his movie, Cobblepott seemed less like a real person in the way that Cobb is a real last name. He’s a gangster and it felt more right.”

Colin Farrell resumes his role as the Penguin and moves to take control of the city’s criminal organization.

The eight-episode Penguin series has been described as a “Scarred-like” which will see the villain’s rise in the criminal underworld of Gotham City. It has also been confirmed that the series will lead directly into the events of Batman: Part Two.

Speaking previously about the film, Farrell said: “It’s dark, that’s what I can tell you about it. It’s really dark and very heavy, I think, it definitely was. Which isn’t to say I didn’t have fun with it. I had a lot of fun with it. But it’s incredibly violent.”

Speaking about the story, he said: “It’s a man’s ascension to what he’s always dreamed of inhabiting, which is a certain power or status. And the death of Carmine Falcone at the end of the film leaves this void in Gotham to fill.

“And so there are various people trying to grab that power and this is Oswald’s journey, trying to get to the top, through extraordinary obstacles and it’s super dark. Lauren LeFranc has written a really twisted eight hours of television.”

The series also features the participation of Christin Miliotiwho plays the female lead Sofia Falcone, and Happy Rhenzywho plays a teenager who Penguin befriends and chooses as his driver.

The rest of the cast includes Michael Kelly (House of Cards, Jack Ryan), Shohreh Aghdashloo’s Diary (The Expanse, House of Sand and Fog) AND Deirdre O’Connell (External range).

The penguin whose premiere is scheduled for September 19th.