'Batman: Caped Crusader' Fires Up More Icy Rogue Reveals As Premiere Looms
'Batman: Caped Crusader' Fires Up More Icy Rogue Reveals As Premiere Looms
A female Penguin? Onomatopoeia might say OOF, but that wouldn’t be very gentlemanly, don’t be a soulsucker
After over three years that included a search for a new home, Batman: Caped Crusader is days away, August 1 on Prime Video. The last week has seen more of the hero’s rogues be gradually unveiled, capped off with a presence not only within the streamer’s adult animation panel, but its own at San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend, capped off with the reveal of a gender-swapped Penguin as the icing on the lake. After throwing out mostly just names when revealing the cast, getting to put them to characters is very satisfying
First came the trio of Firebug voiced by Tom Kenny, Gentleman Ghost by Toby Stephens, and Natalia Knight/Nocturna by Mckenna Grace. There’s nothing provided in terms of character descriptions, though we’ve definitely seen Firebug in the trailers (and in case you didn’t know, is not the same as Firefly, and are completely separate characters). He seems to believe everyone craves the flame like he does. The Gentlemen Ghost is a thief and robber, while Nocturna is a soul sucker with super strength.
Then came a similar video for Clayface, one of the earliest-revealed characters of the series, and Onomatopoeia, a Kevin Smith (yes that Kevin Smith) and Phil Hester creation making their long-form animation debut (ie outside of DC Nation shorts). As previously reported, this Clayface is back to his horror roots “Thanks to his “unique” facial features, screen actor Basil Karlo has been forever typecast as a B-movie heavy. Frustrated by the limitations his appearance put on both his career and personal life (he fell hopelessly in love with his co-star), Karlo turned to an experimental serum that promised to change his face. However, not only does this serum ultimately disfigure his face, but it ruptures the last of his sanity” ultimately bringing his vengeance and villainy, a role he now understands he was born to play, embracing his shapeshifting as a gift. He's voiced by Dan Donohue. Onomatopoeia meanwhile has quite the dramatic sting in the criminal underground, ready to come in with a bang. He’s voiced by Reid Scott of Veep and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, heading into his second season of Law & Order this fall.
And then there’s The Penguin, Oswalda Cobblepot, voiced by Minnie Driver, and thus for the first time, The Penguin is indeed a woman. Not the most imaginative in gender-swapped names though. She is on the panel at San Diego Comic-Con, which started with a video message from executive producer Bruce Timm. He welcomed fans before the world premiere screening of the first episode, which features the Penguin. Driver knew that some purists may have issues with a female Cobblepot, but knows that it’s still very much The Penguin. “If we’re lucky enough to be invited onto the stage to inhabit these characters that already exist in the ether, we just sort of rise up to meet them. And this was such a beautiful retelling of that villain. It was joyful. And, I mean, she’s dreadful.” The general adult
Batman: Caped Crusader stars Hamish Linklater as Bruce Wayne aka Batman, revealed alongside Jamie Chung as Harleen Quinzel aka Harley Quinn, Christina Ricci as Selina Kyle aka Catwoman and Diedrich Bader as Harvey Dent aka Two-Face, with John DiMaggio as Harvey Bullock, Eric Morgan Stuart as James Gordon, Michelle C. Bonilla as Renee Montoya, Krystal Joy Brown as Barbara Gordon, and Jason Watkins, whose TV resume prior to this is very much British, as Alfred Pennyworth revealed between them and these, while Paul Scheer, Gary Anthony Williams, David Krumholtz, and Haley Joel Osment’s roles are still unrevealed. The series is produced by Timm, J. J. Abrams, and Matt Reeves, running things with fellow executive producer James Tucker.
Sources: Bleeding Cool, IGN, Variety
There are such things as female penguins. The species couldn't keep going without them.