Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for The Penguin episode 8The Penguin episode 8's ending, where Oz gets Sofia Gigante arrested, kills Victor Aguilar, and finds his mother a place to stay for the rest of her life. The Penguin ends on a sour note for Oz Cobb himself, as he has fully given in to his darkest desires and lost all hope of maintaining any sort of genuine friendship.

The Bat-Signal in The Penguin finale suggests that Batman resumed his crime-fighting crusade after a short absence, and that both Sofia Gigante and Oz Cobb's gang war will be the first thing the Dark Knight will investigate. However, a second encounter between Batman and the Penguin is only one of the sequel set-ups included in The Penguin episode 8. Besides Batman and the Penguin's return, Sofia Gigante's possible appearance, and a shake-up in Gotham's criminal underworld, The Penguin finale also seems to set up The Batman - Part II's main antagonists.

The Penguin Finale's Courtroom Scene Includes A Court Of Owls Reference

Oz's last-minute masterplan to defeat Sofia Gigante involves his improvised connection to a Gotham politician, councilman Sebastian Hady, whom Oz previously manipulated in order to restore Crown Point's electricity. When Oz enters Gotham's town hall to talk with Hady in The Penguin episode 8, the curtains hung along the chambers in the courtroom create clear owl shapes. The image of multiple owl silhouettes scattered a courtroom seems like a subtle but crystal-clear hint at the Court of Owls' introduction in The Batman - Part II, as it's often theorized.

What The Court Of Owls’ Appearance Could Mean For The Batman Part II

The Penguin May Have Signed His Death Sentence

Colin Farrell's Oz Cobb in The Penguin and the Court of Owls from DC's Batman comics
Custom Image by David MIller

The Court of Owls' main antagonist role in The Batman - Part II would uncover a deep and potentially ancient conspiracy that could explain Gotham's crime and corruption. In the comics, the Court of Owls have influenced Gotham's politics from the shadows for ages, and they have played a key role in almost all significant events in the city's history. Instead of a single criminal with a plan to destroy Gotham like the Riddler, Batman may have to deal with countless faceless enemies who cannot be defeated by sheer force.

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What We Know About The Future Of The Batman Universe After The Penguin

The Penguin ended with teases for The Batman universe, and its future includes Oz Cobb, Batman, and other spinoffs that have been teased or rumored.

Oz Cobb may also be affected by the Court of Owls' introduction in The Batman - Part II. By establishing a secret relationship with a corrupt Gotham politician to get Sofia arrested in The Penguin finale, Oz may have put himself on the Court of Owls' map accidentally. One of Oz's best weapons is his ability to shape Gotham's criminal underworld without calling too much attention from competent authorities and the public. Now that Oz wiped out Gotham's two biggest crime families and started working with individual politicians, the Court of Owls may want to eliminate him.

  • The Penguin

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    The Penguin
    Release Date
    2024 - 2024-00-00
    Showrunner
    Lauren LeFranc
    Directors
    Craig Zobel

    WHERE TO WATCH

    Streaming

    Created by Lauren LeFranc, The Penguin is a crime-drama spin-off television series of 2022's film The Batman. Set shortly after the events of The Batman, Oz Cobb, A.K.A. the Penguin, begins his rise in the underworld of Gotham City as he contends with the daughter of his late boss, Carmine Falcone, for control of the crime family's empire.

  • The Batman Part II Logo Placeholder
    The Batman Part II
    Release Date
    October 1, 2027
    Director
    Matt Reeves
    Writers
    Matt Reeves, Mattson Tomlin, Bill Finger, Bob Kane
    Prequel(s)
    The Batman
    Franchise(s)
    Batman

    The Batman Part II is the sequel to Matt Reeve's The Batman, released in 2022, and will continue where the original film left off. The film shares a universe with the HBO Max original Penguin series and sees the return of the Riddler and a different incarnation of the Joker.