During a panel at San Diego Comic-Con, significant details were shared about Oz Cobb’s appearance in the new DC Universe series The Penguin. The casting of Colin Farrell as the character in The Batman was a surprising choice that became even more shocking when his first look was revealed. Everything known about The Penguin suggests that a great deal of care was put into realizing an excellent story around the character, and hearing crew members describe the significant effort, detail, and influences that went into constructing that image is fascinating.

At the show’s San Diego Comic-Con panel, prosthetics designer Mike Marino spoke about the makeup influences on Penguin’s design. Drawing influence from Fredo in The Godfather and Harvey Weinstein, Marino drew psychological bird elements and integrated a beak into the character’s appearance.

I looked at injured birds and older, grizzled penguins, and they have these chipped beaks and all this stuff. So, on one side of his face in a silhouette, you have this curved scarred face on the side – but if you line it up with a photo of a bird, it mimics the mouth of a bird.

How The Penguin’s Design Defines The Character

The Penguin‘s design was a shocking addition to The Batman and is a significant departure from some of the character iterations of the past. Burgess Meredith’s version of the character was flamboyant and pompous, while Danny DeVito’s was deformed and terrifying. Elements of both of these realizations are brought into the Farrell version of the character in part; however, this version, despite having perhaps the most substantial makeup of any version yet, feels shockingly human. The person that the team created feels entirely real, and the design plays a substantial role in this.

Marino’s descriptions of the psychological bird elements that went into the design are especially fascinating. There was a focus on using his marks and scars to look like a beak and expressing a split personality with his face. “It’s actually a beak on one side, and it’s all shredded on one side, as if the character that he is got into a fight,” Marino described. The character’s edge and violence are suggested by this look. Despite seeming personable and strangely charming from one side, the danger of Oz Cobb becomes evident when he smiles his crooked smile.

Colin Farrell’s The Penguin design contributes to a clever and yet confusing iteration of the character. While many find it strange that the team decided to render the actor unrecognizable in the role rather than to cast someone who looks like the person they’ve created, understanding the process behind the makeup helps to explain their decision. While Farrell disappears into the character, there is clearly an incredible intentionality behind the look and process. It will be rewarding to see this come to life when The Penguin releases in September.