“The essence of the Penguin is the essence of the Penguin.”
That was Minnie Driver’s response when asked to comment on the fear of possible backlash from hypercritical fans after ‘Batman: Caped Crusader’s’ announced their decision to have the villain Penguin switch genders.
“The point here is this: if it wasn’t so beautifully conceived or reimagined, if it was somehow just framed to check a box of ‘Oh, we need to have a fluidity around the characters now have’, then that’s not it. The essence of the Penguin is the essence of the Penguin,” said Driver. “She’s pretty bad. She does really terrible things, and I hope she will be embraced as the villain she has always been.”
She concluded by saying, “The essence of this show is essentially Batman. Make no mistake, and the fact that the Penguin is a truly terrifying woman speaks volumes about Bruce’s imagination [Timm] and the entire team.”
Driver was joined by cast members Hamish Linklater (Batman/Bruce Wayne) and Jamie Chung (Harley Quinn) on Variety Comic-Con Studio, presented by Google TV, at San Diego Comic-Con 2024 to talk about Prime Video’s upcoming Batman series, airing on the streamer on August 1.
Linklater was asked about the pressure he felt to portray the iconic hero following the recent death of Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy. Conroy was the voice behind Batman in the original animated series that inspired ‘Caped Crusader’ and countless other projects that have touched almost every corner of the Dark Knight repertoire, including films, shows and video games.
“When I finally heard the results of it [his Batman voice], it was quite – I hope – close to him. I hope it doesn’t bother the viewer,” he said. “There are wonderful reinterpretations of so many characters in this series, but I hope… I don’t know. I’m just desperate to honor the great legacy Kevin has left behind.”
Watch the full interview above to find out which Batman villain is each cast member’s favorite and what’s at the top of their must-watch list.