Danny DeVito's Favorite Thing About Playing The Penguin In Batman Returns Makes So Much Sense

The classic Batman villain, The Penguin, has recently been getting a lot of love from fans, new and old. Colin Farrell's take on the character, introduced in Matt Reeves' "The Batman," led HBO Max's critically acclaimed series, "The Penguin." While Farrell takes the villain into gritty new territory by reimagining him as a seedy mobster climbing the ranks of Gotham's underworld, many fans will always consider Danny DeVito's gothic take on the character the definitive version of the Penguin.

Danny DeVito brought the Penguin to life in Tim Burton's second Batman movie, "Batman Returns," in 1992. True to Tim Burton's supremely stylized vision of Gotham City, the Penguin of that movie was imagined as an abandoned child born with a long hooked nose and flipper-like hands, giving him a penguin-like appearance. In private and in his battles with Batman, DeVito's Penguin was almost bestial, while in public, he presented himself as a sympathetic figure and vied for Gotham's affection as a mayoral candidate.

DeVito was the first actor to play the role of the Penguin following Burgess Meredith, who portrayed the Penguin as a squawking, waddling, aristocratic criminal in the 1966 Batman TV series opposite Adam West's Caped Crusader. Reimagining the Penguin for the gothic world of Tim Burton's Batman movies, DeVito was the first actor to tap into both the pain and the savagery beneath the character's avian appearance. In "Batman Returns," he had the opportunity to blend Shakespearean tragedy with comic book extravagance.

Danny DeVito and his Penguin successor, Colin Farrell, recently interviewed each other for Variety. Discussing their time in the role, they spoke about their shared experience of long hours in the makeup chair, as well as what they enjoyed about bringing the classic Batman villain to life. DeVito admitted he would be eager to return to the role if he were ever asked back, before expanding on what he liked about playing the Penguin. "I loved it because it gave you a freedom that burst out. For [Farrell], too. You can go off the rails with something," DeVito said. He continued:

"The operatic element of Tim Burton's 'Batman Returns' was my favorite thing about it — the music and sets and the whole thing. The Shakespeare of it — 'All the world's a stage.' Oswald's realm and his penguins and his minions and his passion. I loved that."

It's true that, compared to other cinematic adaptations of Batman, Tim Burton's particularly reveled in the source material's operatic scale. While more grounded and realistic Batman stories have become a Hollywood trend in recent years, Burton's "Batman Returns" gave Oswald Cobblepot a subterranean palace and legions of penguin minions, while Gotham itself was depicted as a dark web of towering spires connected by endless bridges. Given Burton's decision to realize Batman's world in gothic grandeur, rather than bleak reality, it's not surprising that DeVito enjoyed the theatrical freedom that came with playing the Penguin in "Batman Returns."