WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Before the Batman: An Original Movie Novel, on sale now.
In the trailers for The Batman, it seemed as of Colin Farrell’s Oswald Cobblepot, aka Penguin, was Gotham’s scariest villain. There were quite a few intimidating shots of him staring down the Bat, whether it be at his warehouse or as the vigilante tried to beat his way to the gangster at the Iceberg Lounge, and he also showed some gravitas when he tried to outrace the Caped Crusader. However, in the prequel novel to the film, Before the Batman: An Original Movie Novel, it was confirmed the city’s most terrifying figure was someone hardly seen in the trailers: John Turturro’s Carmine Falcone.
Now, this isn’t a surprise given how Falcone has been key in stories like The Long Halloween, manipulating the seedy underbelly of Gotham. He was so intimidating, in fact, that Christopher Nolan used him in Batman Begins to show how deep-rooted Gotham’s corruption was, having him scare Bruce into realizing he needed to transcend as a warrior and symbol.
Come Before the Batman: An Original Movie Novel, though, and Falcone once again got the spotlight as he tried to quell rogue elements in the crew. Bruce, starting off as the Bat, discovered someone was bringing an explosive gel into Gotham and dealing it to burglars. And it was none other than Piggy, who dealt the gel behind Falcone’s back.
An undercover Bruce got intel over to Lieutenant Dure — his first police ally — and hatched a plot to get Piggy arrested. But Falcone’s rats in the precinct sent their boss info, which left him prepared for when Piggy came over to apologize for the side project. Piggy looked like an amateur because the man he put in jail, Bennett, all to blackmail Bennett’s daughter, Dex, into being his race-car driver to make the drops, was going to be let out as part of the truce Bruce secretly struck with Gotham PD.
Falcone let Piggy off with a warning but made it clear more insubordination would result in death. But when Piggy left and Oswald tried to demean him, Falcone showed Oswald that he was just as insignificant. Falcone stared in an intimidating manner, making fun of Oswald’s size and appearance by calling him Penguin. It was a habit he had that Oswald didn’t like, but the lackey couldn’t do anything because he was afraid of Falcone.
Falcone has always been an intimidating presence, but it was shocking to see how even the likes of Penguin were afraid of him. In fact, he was so intimidated that he was left hoping Falcone wouldn’t take Piggy’s failures out on him. Fortunately, Falcone let bygones be bygones, but his stare, low voice and cold, cruel words had Penguin wishing he were anywhere but that room, which is in stark contrast to the attitude the character has had in The Batman’s trailers.
To see how Falcone and Penguin get along, The Batman arrives in theaters March 4.
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