‘Batman: Caped Crusader’ Cast on Honoring Kevin Conroy and the New Penguin Minnie Driver: ‘She’s Properly Evil’
variety.comDiego Ramos Bechara editor “The essence of the Penguin is the essence of the Penguin.” That was Minnie Driver‘s response when asked to address fears of potential backlash from hyper-critical fans after “Batman: Caped Crusader’s” announced their decision to gender-swap the villainous Penguin. “Here’s the thing: If it hadn’t been so beautifully imagined or reimagined, if it had somehow just been shoehorned in to tick some box of ‘Oh, we have to now have a fluidity around characters,’ That’s not it.
The essence of the Penguin is the essence of the Penguin,” Driver said. “She’s properly evil. She really does some terrible things, and I hope that she will be embraced as the villain that she always has been.” She concluded by saying: “The essence of this show is quintessentially Batman.
Make no mistake, and the fact that the Penguin is a really terrifying woman speaks volumes about the imagination of Bruce [Timm] and the whole team.” Driver was joined by cast members Hamish Linklater (Batman/Bruce Wayne) and Jamie Chung (Harley Quinn) at Variety’s Comic-Con Studio, presented by Google TV, at the 2024 San Diego Comic-Con to chat about Prime Video’s upcoming Batman series, which will air on the streamer on Aug.
1st. Linklater was asked about the pressure he felt to portray the iconic hero after Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy’s recent passing.
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