Colin Farrell Has Already Revealed Oz’s Biological Father, a Gangster He Looks Up to

The Penguin, Matt Reeves’ episodic follow-up to The Batman, has already borne fruit as fans rally behind the show’s brilliant writing, loveable characters, and tightly written dialogue and script. Much like the film that it is a spin-off of, The Penguin has already gotten fans guessing and wondering about the mysteries and narrative that might unfold in its upcoming episodes.

Besides the obvious game of cat-and-mouse that The Penguin has set up for himself, there are some peculiar eccentricities about the characters that have irked fans. One such thing is the story about an old gangster in Oswald’s childhood neighborhood, a personality that he seems very influenced by, named Rex Calabrese.

Rex Calabrese might be more than just an influence on The Penguin

At the beginning of Episode 5 of The Penguin, Oz references Rex Calabrese once again, previously having told Alberto Falcone about the gangster that ran his neighborhood. Oz remembers the older gangster’s golden car while burning his own wrecked vehicle. Oz has very fond recollections of how Calabrese carried himself, whether it be knowing everybody in the neighborhood, or the street and feeling blessed when he visited it with his golden car.

There is a possibility that Oz came from a relatively small neighborhood, such that he could see everything that Rex was doing whenever he visited, or there was a more personal connection between Rex and Oz. The Penguin, in most iterations of the DC Universe, is a self-made crime lord who was born out of wedlock. However, given the nature of the narrative in The Batman, with family secrets being a big theme for the universe in general, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to consider that Rex Calabrese could be Oswald Cobb’s biological father.

Selina Kyle’s parentage could also lend credence to this theory

Rex Calabrese, in multiple iterations of DC’s continuity, is the biological father of Catwoman, who was played by Zoe Kravitz in The Batman. However, in this iteration of the DC canon, Catwoman’s father is Carmine Falcone. Which makes the mention of Rex all the more out of the blue for the story. Now, a narrative as convoluted as this might reveal that Selina Kyle was lying all along, or Rex, who is a deep cut from DC Comics, could hold more water than just being an inspiration for the Penguin.

Switching Catwoman’s parentage, while having her work for the Penguin, along with the fact that the character keeps referencing Rex Calabrese, Catwoman’s original father from the comics, seems too much of a coincidence to not have more meaning for Oswald Cobb. It would be completely in line for the character to have already known that Rex is his father, and the entire plot against the Falcones is simply the Penguin’s revenge plot-cum-rise to power, which might come to fruition in The Batman II.

The Penguin can be streamed on HBO