The Penguin Reveals The Harshest Truth About Batman’s Biggest Weakness

Warning! This article contains spoilers for The PenguinA tragic death in The Penguin proves that Batman's biggest weakness is inescapable both for him and for every DC character who follows in his footsteps. The Batman introduced multiple ultra-realistic takes on famous Gotham characters, including the Penguin, the Riddler, Catwoman, Carmine Falcone, James Gordon, and the Dark Knight himself. Of these, only the Riddler and the Penguin have gotten their own spinoffs so far — Edward Nashton in the comic book The Riddler: Year Zero and Oz Cobb in the Max series The Penguin.

The Penguin stays true to The Batman's style and keeps its plot grounded with a gang war that takes place out of Batman and the GCPD's sight. Oz Cobb sets the conflict in motion by killing Al Falcone and later finishes the job by murdering the Maroni family. Sofia Falcone a.k.a. the Hangman also adds fuel to the fire by killing her whole family. But while The Penguin focuses on the dark and realistic aspects of Gotham's DC lore, there's one character with a strong parallel to one of the most lighthearted elements of Batman's 85-year history.

The Penguin Introduced A New, Dark Take On Robin With A Twist

The Penguin Sought Out Batman's Biggest Tragedy

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In The Penguin, Colin Farrell's Oz Cobb and Rhenzy Feliz's Victor Aguilar have a very similar father-son relationship to Batman and Robin. Oz takes Victor under his wing when he notices the kid's noble personality under the unfortunate circumstances Vic finds himself in. Though inexperienced, Victor is clever enough to save Oz multiple times, even saving him from Nadia Maroni in the nick of time. Unfortunately for Victor, he survives the whole odyssey, only to die at the hands of Oz in The Penguin episode 8's ending in the most tragic way possible.

Related The Dark Knight Just Lost Its Crown For The Most Brutal DC Villain Scene The Penguin finale breaks the record for the darkest and most brutal moment in any DC movie, surpassing The Dark Knight's Joker scenes.

Victor Aguilar is a clear Robin parallel. In fact, Victor's origin story is almost the exact same as Jason Todd — both were recruited by their respective mentors when they tried to steal the rims off their cars. However, whereas Jason Todd dies at the hands of the Joker when Batman fails to arrive in time to save him, Oz murders Victor himself with the excuse that it's less traumatic for Oz to get rid of Vic before someone else does it. Both Batman and the Penguin lost their respective sidekicks because they simply didn't know how to protect them.

The Penguin Revealed Batman's Sidekick Will Always Be A Vulnerability

Robin Has Always Been Batman's Weak Point

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Oz Cobb's decision to kill Victor Aguilar in cold blood is inexcusable, but Victor was certainly likely to end up seriously hurt by Oz's side after the events of The Penguin. Not even Batman could protect Jason Todd from a brutal death, and every Robin is a liability for Batman, regardless of their prowess. Although all Bat-Family members are skilled enough to deal with Batman's villains without their mentor's help, their deaths would weigh on Batman just as much as Thomas and Martha Wayne's deaths already do. That's why Batman usually considers Jason Todd's murder his biggest failure.

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buy Not available Not available Not available *Availability in US Showrunner Lauren LeFranc Writers Lauren LeFranc Directors Craig Zobel Cast Colin Farrell , Cristin Milioti , Rhenzy Feliz , Michael Kelly , Shohreh Aghdashloo , Deirdre O'Connell , Clancy Brown , James Madio , Scott Cohen , Michael Zegen , Carmen Ejogo , Theo Rossi Release Date September 19, 2024 Prequel The Batman (2022) Streaming Service(s) MAX Expand

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