In a now-deleted Instagram post, Mark Strong‘s personal trainer, Giacomo Farci, confirmed that the star has a role in the upcoming MAX streaming series, The Penguin. While it’s not the first time the actor’s name has been associated with the project, Farci’s comments are much more believable than when Strong was listed as part of the cast on IMDB a couple of months ago. Now, the real question is, of course, who will the actor be playing?
With Shazam! baddie Doctor Sivana and Green Lantern goober Sinestro among the roles on his resume, Strong already has a notable history portraying DC villains. While there’s no indication by Farci who Strong will be playing in The Penguin, it seems more likely than not that it will be yet another villain given what’s known about the project. Given that the streaming series will serve to bridge the gap between 2022’s The Batman and 2026’s The Batman Part II, it’s also possible Strong’s character could appear in the Matt Reeves‘-helmed sequel and though he didn’t share the identity of Strong’s character, Farci did leave one hint for fans to decipher.
When asked which character his client was playing, Farci said he was unable to answer the question but then encouraged the fan who posed the question to “watch Gotham” which he then said was “a good series for DC lovers.” Then, to make sure the fan caught the hint, Farci capped off the sentence with a cute winky face emoji.
Over 5 seasons, the Fox series Gotham used a whole slew of villains from Batman’s rogues gallery. Some of those make more sense for Strong than others, such as psychopath Victor Zsasz, Mr. Freeze, Hugo Strange or even Clayface; however, given that The Penguin seems very mob-centric, it’s also possible Strong might play any number of mafioso types who could be vying for power after Carmine Falcone’s death. We’ll all find out together when The Penguin streams on MAX later this year.
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