Despite Colin Farrell's commitment to reprise his role as Oswald 'Oz' Cobblepot in HBO's 'The Penguin,' the series had to recast the part of the deceased crime lord Carmine Falcone, originally portrayed by John Turturro in 'The Batman.' Recently, Turturro revealed that he declined the opportunity to return due to concerns over the portrayal of violence against women in 'The Penguin.' 'I did what I wanted to with the role,' Turturro shared in an interview with Variety. 'There was a lot of violence towards women in the show, and that's not something I wanted to be a part of.'
Violence against women was also present in 'The Batman,' where Turturro's Falcone was directly involved in the murder of Annika Kosolov (Hana Hrzic), the best friend of Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz). Falcone even physically assaults Selina on-screen during one of their encounters. When questioned about the film's depiction of violence against women, Turturro commented, 'It happens off-screen. It's scarier that way.' Although Annika's murder occurs off-screen, Falcone's choking of Selina is clearly visible.
Mark Strong took over the role of Falcone for flashback sequences in 'The Penguin.' Showrunner Lauren LeFranc previously explained to IGN that Turturro's absence was due to scheduling conflicts. 'John was just unavailable to us,' LeFranc stated. 'He had scheduling conflicts, and we couldn't make it work, but I'm genuinely excited that we got Mark Strong. I think he's really good.'
As Turturro points out, 'The Batman' contains significant violence, both directed at and committed by women. However, this does not negate the actions of his character in the film. 'The Penguin' airs Sunday nights on HBO and Max.
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