The Penguin Episode 4 paid homage to Batman: The Animated Series

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Key things

  • The Penguin was a hit that bridges the gap between “The Batman” and its world-building sequel and delivers a strong following.
  • The latest episode of “The Penguin” features the prominent role of the famous character Summer Gleeson, which connects her with “Batman”.
  • The inclusion of familiar characters like Summer Gleeson in “The Penguin” makes it a masterful callback move that adds depth without losing the tone of the show.



Penguin was a huge success as a spin-off of Matt Reeves Batman, but the latest episode of the hit show revisits one of the character's most famous appearances with a cameo even more.

Penguin had a lot of catching up to do during development, as the strategy chosen by DC Studios and Warner Bros. Discovery meant that Reeves had to cancel plans for several planned spin-offs of his 2022 hit. Batman, leaving the only surviving show with all the burden of world-building to bridge the first major Reeves film with its upcoming sequel Batman – Part II Despite this heavy responsibility, the show was developed with confidence behind the scenes and was upgraded from a streaming-only affair to a fully linear television show on HBO. This would pay off with a strong following and To the penguin the streaming premiere would even beat it House of the Dragon debut on Max.


batman movie poster with robert pattinson as batman, zoe kraitz as catwoman, paul dane as the riddler, colin farrell as the penguin

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While it's still early days at DC Studios, it's already pretty clear Penguin is by far the best reincarnation and Batman villain and the show gave fans another reason to smile in its latest episode. As ComicBook pointed out in a recent story, episode four Penguin features a plethora of flashbacks that show viewers the events behind Sofia Falcone's incarceration, including the now-released inmate being approached by a reporter about her father's dark dealings, before she subsequently becomes the next victim on The Hangman's list. The reporter, a short-lived cameo brought to life by Nadine Malouf, is identified as none other than Summer Gleeson, a familiar name to longtime Batman fans as a mainstay of the highly praised Batman: The Animated Series.


BTAS-Summer-Gleason

Gleeson was made for Batman: TAS and was a reporter and celebrity in that continuity, standing in for Vicky Vale in many ways. Aside from a few comics directly related to the animated series' continuity or Elsewold's material, she's never really been a part of the Batman canon, so this inclusion was pretty intentional on the part of the creative team. At this point Penguin probably exceeded all expectations, including how little the series relied on Batman and its titular hero to support its own story. Almost half of the season is done and mentions of the Dark Knight are noticeably absent Penguin, and rightfully so. That, coupled with a series that aims to introduce a reimagined Oz Cobb and Gotham, means that the project may have succeeded at the expense of its connection to the larger story, but this one small cameo and the episode as a whole does quite a bit. somewhat thematically and literally referencing Penguin to Batman.


Penguin does the idea of ​​a shared universe right, and paying homage to previous works in subtle ways like this is certainly a great way to go without derailing the tone and story of the show. This kind of maneuvering with existing characters and concepts is exactly what the Elseworlds label is meant to allow. While tons of newer fans won't look twice at the character and can still follow the story perfectly, those in the know will appreciate this addition, making it a masterful callback.

Penguin is available to stream on Max and on linear TV every Sunday on HBO.

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Source: ComicBook

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