The Penguin – Beetlejuice, Danny DeVito and More Easter Eggs from the Show

The Penguin is airing its first season on HBO and Max, continuing the story of The Batman (2022) and beginning to build the franchise that Matt Reeves and Warner have agreed to call the Batman Epic Crime Saga (BECS, for short). And while the show doesn’t approach the “MCU mechanism” of pointing to possible continuations and spin-offs, it still has many easter eggs for Batman fans.

Check out below the main details noticed by Wrestling Notícias. This list will be updated weekly until the conclusion of The Penguin’s first season.

Gotham Knights

Right after killing Alberto Falcone (Michael Zegen), the Penguin (Colin Farrell) dedicates himself to searching the deceased’s phone to find the date of a drug shipment he promised. However, when looking at Alberto’s calendar, Oz also finds a conspicuous event identified only as “Gotham Knights,” scheduled for November 23 in the deceased’s agenda.

DC fans know the expression well, as it has already been the title of a video game (released in 2022) and TV series (from 2023, with a single season) of the brand. Both productions follow a team of superheroes formed by Batman’s apprentices and “godchildren,” such as Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, and Red Hood – all characters who haven’t yet made their debut in BECS.

Burgess Jewelry

During Oz and Victor’s (Rhenzy Feliz) wanderings through Gotham, we can observe various establishments and shops scattered throughout the streets – and one of them is this jewelry store named Burgess Jewelry, with a striking facade filmed straight on by director Craig Zobel. The emphasis given to it isn’t for nothing, as the name Burgess should be familiar to Penguin fans.

Burgess Meredith was an American actor whose career spanned radio, theater, film, and TV – where he played a certain enemy of Adam West’s Batman in the legendary 1960s series. An iconic figure of Hollywood’s golden era, Meredith was much more than the Penguin, being nominated twice for an Oscar (one for playing Mickey in the classic Rocky) and winning an Emmy (for the TV movie Tail Gunner Joe).

The Purple Suit

Speaking of references to Meredith and the character’s past, it’s impossible not to mention the purple (or would it be “plum”?) suit worn by Oz during much of this first episode. The color, also replicated in the protagonist’s car in The Penguin, has been synonymous with Batman’s villain since Meredith incorporated it into his look in the TV series, a choice that ended up influencing various versions of the Penguin in comics.

Danny’s Roofing Corp

Of course, Meredith isn’t the only iconic actor to play the Penguin, and the HBO series made sure to pay tribute to Danny DeVito as well, who marked an entire generation by embodying a grotesque version of the villain in Tim Burton’s excellent Batman Returns (1992). And the easter egg also appears in the facades of Gotham’s shops, when Oz and Victor pass by one that reads Danny’s Roofing Corp.

Johnny Vitti

Although Johnny’s first appearance was in The Penguin’s premiere episode, it’s in the second that he begins to gain prominence, and his name becomes an important plot point. The repetition of “Johnny Vitti” during the chapter might refresh the memory of faithful DC readers, who might recognize the character as Holiday killer’s first victim in The Long Halloween arc (1996-1997), from which the shows seems to draw quite a bit of inspiration. As played by Michael Kelly in the shows, however, Vitti seems to have much more power within the Falcone family – he’s the underboss, not just another henchman.

The Godfather

The reference is unmistakable – in the scene where Sofia is definitively sidelined by Luca (Scott Cohen), who even suggests she travel to Italy and leave the task of commanding Gotham’s mafia to him, director Craig Zobel repeats an iconic take from The Godfather (1972), the greatest of cinematic mafia classics. In Francis Ford Coppola’s film, the office door where family business was decided by Michael (Al Pacino) closed before a hurt Kay (Diane Keaton).

Want an even cooler detail about this easter egg? The inspiration from The Godfather comes straight from the comics, as Jeph Loeb (cartoonist responsible for much of DC’s Falcone saga, with The Long Halloween and Dark Victory arcs) has already declared he was inspired by the Corleones for the family members. In this parallel, for Loeb, Carmine represented Vito (Marlon Brando), Alberto was Fredo (John Cazale), and Sofia was Sonny (James Caan).

Crown Point

The neighborhood where Victor used to live – and which has now been completely destroyed by the flood caused by the Riddler’s (Paul Dano) terrorist attack at the end of The Batman – was mentioned several times during the first two episodes, but in “Bliss” we finally have a flashback of what life was like there before the events of Matt Reeves’ film.

Well, the name Crown Point isn’t strange to DC comics fans, appearing as a metropolis suburb in various different arcs, but Gotham (2014-2019) viewers should recognize it better, since the show about Bruce Wayne’s (David Mazouz) origins used Crown Point – and the bridge that connects it to the noble side of the city – as the setting for the gang war between their versions of Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor) and Sofia Falcone (Crystal Reed).

Congressman Hill

In one of the Falcone family flashbacks, Carmine (Mark Strong) thanks his daughter Sofia for helping to pacify relations between his crime empire and a certain Congressman Hill. The scene serves only to establish that Sofia was always more connected to her father’s business than her younger brother, Alberto – but DC fans probably recognized the politician’s surname mentioned by Carmine.

Hamilton Hill, after all, is the name of a notorious Gotham mayor in the comics. Obviously corrupt, the character spent much of his terms trying to depose Commissioner Gordon and impute crimes to Batman that he didn’t commit. Hill is a recurring antagonist in Batman: The Animated Series, resurfaced in the recent Harley Quinn with Jim Rash’s voice, and has appeared in various Batman universe video games – most notably in the Batman: The Telltale Series games.

Summer Gleason

Yes, the reporter who approaches Sofia to investigate the Hangman murders – and who ends up eliminated by Carmine’s henchmen before the episode even ends – is also a regular figure in the Batman universe. Summer’s inclusion is also a second nod just in this episode to the Batman: The Animated Series universe, as the Gotham Gazette journalist was originally created by Bruce Timm as a substitute for the much more famous Vicki Vale. Gleeson was kidnapped by villains and investigated Batman’s secret identity during much of the series, later making appearances in Batman Beyond and DC comics set in alternative universes.

Squid

It’s indeed impressive how no name or detail in The Penguin is by chance. The character Squid, a street criminal from Victor’s neighborhood, returned to the plot in the sixth episode to threaten Oz’s business and pick on the boy – thus ending up becoming the first man he killed. But “Squid” is also the name of two (yes, two) crime bosses in Batman comics and animations.

The first Squid was a dangerous gangster, created by Gerry Conway in 1980 as a real threat to Batman – he eventually allied with another supervillain, Killer Croc, and a fight between the two criminals ended up leading to Squid’s murder by his former partner. The second Squid was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm for Batman: The Animated Series, where he was portrayed as an incompetent mob henchman who accidentally “kills” the Batman by making him trip on a skyscraper roof. Sid is arrested and realizes his dream of being a man respected by mobsters – but of course Batman eventually returns to prove it was all an accident.

Roxy

The emphasis given by The Penguin to one of the prostitutes headed by Eve (Carmen Ejogo), the young blonde who becomes closer to Victor, always sounded a bit suspicious to me. In the sixth episode, however, the series rescued the character and transformed her into an informant for Sofia Falcone, who was looking for Oz’s ex-lover – and her name was revealed as Roxy, which should also be familiar to DC fans.

Roxy Rocket is a constant ally of the Penguin, who was created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini for The Batman Adventures Annual comic in 1994. Later, she was transported to animation in Batman: The Animated Series, and eventually incorporated into DC’s main universe in comics as Batgirl’s enemy. In these versions, Roxy is a former stunt woman addicted to adrenaline, who becomes a supervillain because the film industry doesn’t seem risky enough for her – seriously!

Lo Boyz

Oz gathers a wide range of gangs in the climax of The Penguin’s sixth episode, trying to make a deal with all of them to face Sofia and Sal Maroni. One of the criminal groups, however, will resurrect memories in Gotham fans: the Lo Boyz, who appeared in the fifth season as the gang that dominates the metropolis’s oldest neighborhoods. The difference is that here, the Lo Boyz seem to be headed by a Caucasian woman – the opposite of their portrayal in the series.

Beetlejuice

Look at this paradox: in the flashback to Oz’s childhood that opens The Penguin’s seventh episode, the future villain lies to his mother, saying that his two brothers – whom he just trapped in the sewer – went to the cinema to watch Beetlejuice. Burton’s 1988 film, which recently got a sequel, is famously starred by Michael Keaton, who the following year would reunite with Burton to play… himself, Batman! Does this mean that in the universe of The Batman (2022), the Batman (1989) film also exists? Jokes aside, it’s a curious nod.