"The Penguin" showrunner Lauren LeFranc "completely respects" John Turturro's choice not to be in "The Batman" spinoff series

If you’re wondering why John Turturro didn’t reprise his “The Batman” role in the currently airing spinoff series, “The Penguin,” the actor has a good explanation. In an interview with Variety, Turturro reveals that he declined to reprise his film role as Gotham City mob boss Carmine Falcone for the HBO series.

HBO’s The Penguin has a ton of connections to Matt Reeves’ The Batman, but one is proving more interesting than others. In Reeves’ film, John Turturro played crime boss Carmine Falcone, a character who returns in flashbacks for The Penguin.

Last month, The Penguin premiered on HBO to rave reviews. The DC series starring Colin Farrell as the titular criminal character is a spin-off of WB’s 2022 The Batman. However, while Farrell returned for the series,

Additionally, the episode “Cent'Anni” included flashbacks featuring Carmine Falcone, only rather than being reprised by John Turturro, Mark Strong played the younger version of the character. Although Turturro’s absence from this DC TV show airing running on the 2024 TV schedule was initially attributed to scheduling conflicts,

John Turturro has revealed why he decided to not return as The Batman character Carmine Falcone for the Max series The Penguin.