Credit: Inside the MagicThere have been many Batman movie villains, but few have made quite the unsettling, visceral impact of Danny DeVito as the Penguin. While he only portrayed the iconic waterfowl-themed bad guy in a single movie, it turns out that DeVito would agree to do it again in a heartbeat…with one condition.
Danny DeVito played Oswald Cobblepot, AKA the Penguin, in Batman Returns (1992), the second Dark Knight movie directed by Tim Burton. The previous film, Batman (1989), had been an industry-changing blockbuster, opening the gates for a flood of…well, not superhero movies, but films featuring 1930s pulp heroes like The Shadow (1994) and The Phantom (1996). This can largely be regarded as studio executives taking a completely incorrect message from the retro production design of Burton and Anton Furst, but it still created potential for comic book adaptations.
Batman Returns is widely considered the strangest of all live-action feature film adaptations of the DC Comics character, and for good reason. Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton) is largely sidelined in the plot of the film, which focuses primarily on the Penguin’s (Danny DeVito) plan to either take over Gotham City or kill all of its firstborn children and Selina Kyle’s (Michelle Pfeiffer), AKA Catwoman, vengeance against Max Schreck, the corrupt businessman who sort-of killed her by throwing her out a window, only to be resurrected by the licks of alleycats.
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Danny DeVito is arguably the most distinctive part of the film, portraying the Penguin as a corpse-white, bile-spitting sewer dweller who commands an army of circus performers and actual penguins against Michael Keaton. Unsurprisingly, parents who brought their Batman-loving children to the film were somewhat taken aback by the bizarre violence of the Penguin and the overt sexuality of Catwoman, especially for a film that was overtly marketed to kids by McDonald’s.
The movie ended up grossing $266 million at the box office, which did not nearly match the performance of the first. Tim Burton and Michael Keaton soon departed the franchise, which would be taken up by director Joel Schumacher and a revolving door of Batmen, including Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, and (currently) Robert Pattinson.
It seems, however, that a joint appearance by once-and-future co-stars Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger at the 96th Academy Awards, in which they antagonized Michael Keaton (who was sitting in the audience), sparked interest in the actor as Penguin.
Michael Keaton says he could fight Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“Danny is the one I’d worry about. He’d creep up behind you, and he has the height advantage because he’s so small. The other guy I would just put away. He’s too slow.” pic.twitter.com/0UF6cBYEpe
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) March 14, 2024
In the past, DeVito has expressed interest in returning to the role, saying, “I would definitely consider doing it, yeah. Batman Returns was a great part, it was operatic. You could just pull out all the stops. There were so many motivating things, so many things churning up inside of him. Being the odd man out – the odd bird out – brought the character out of me. It was an emotional experience for me because I felt it was an opportunity of a lifetime to play Oswald Cobblepot with Tim’s vision and design. Tim is a genius to me.”
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Now, Danny DeVito has gone even further and agreed to reprise the role, just as long as Tim Burton would direct him again. He said (per Screenrant), “If Tim Burton was directing it, I’d be there in a second. Oswald Cobblepot is my favorite. I had a good time. It’s operatic. I like every once in a while going big, and so I’d do that in a second. We had a ball doing that.”
The chances of getting Tim Burton back to Batman are slim, but not non-existent, while Michael Keaton returned as Bruce Wayne as recently as The Flash (2023). Getting Danny DeVito back as the Penguin is a long shot, but far stranger things have happened in the DC Multiverse.
Who’s your favorite Batman villain in film? Tell us in the comments below!