Touring the riot scene, gravely assessing the devastation, patiently awaiting to play Oswald Cobblepot again. That’s the word from Danny DeVito, who says that if he can get Tim Burton on board, he would absolutely play The Penguin once more.
Speaking with Screen Rant, Danny DeVito expressed interest in returning as The Penguin, saying, “If Tim Burton was directing it, I’d be there in a second. Oswald Cobblepot is my favorite. I had a good time. It’s operatic. I like every once in a while going big, and so I’d do that in a second. We had a ball doing that.” And we’d have a ball watching it, as DeVito chews up every scene he’s in – and nose stuck in his business.
DeVito expressing his interesting in reviving The Penguin comes fresh off of the awesome moment at Sunday’s Academy Awards in which he and fellow former Batman nemesis Mr. Freeze (that is, Arnold Schwarzenegger) challenged Batman (that is, Michael Keaton), which the Caped Crusader did not back down from. And now that we know that Arnold would love to work with his old pal Danny again, the pitch seems so obvious: Mr. Freeze and The Penguin – with the penguin funeral at the end of Batman Returns only a ruse – team up to get revenge on Batman and all of Gotham. To the Warner Bros. execs reading this, I do take Venmo.
Of course, none of this will ever happen: DeVito is nearing 80, Tim Burton has too much baggage with the Batman franchise and the studios are working to make sure The Penguin is linked to Colin Farrell. But almost nothing can top Danny DeVito as The Penguin, one of the richest performances in any comic book movie, so complete and ugly that it transcends all that came before and much of what came after. No wonder he – and many of us – consider it a favorite!
DeVito and Burton have collaborated numerous times, beginning with Batman Returns more than 30 years ago. Their most recent pairing was 2019’s Dumbo.
Would you want to see Danny DeVito reprise The Penguin? Where does his performance rank in your favorite comic book villains? Let us know below!