The Penguin fans rave Colin Farrell’s HBO show is already ‘the best series of the year’ and draw comparisons to a global fan-favorite series

HBO debuted its highly-anticipated series The Penguin on Thursday evening, and fans are already giving it high praise.

Colin Farrell returns as the title character – a.k.a. Oswald ‘Oz’ Cobb – reprising his role from the 2022 film The Batman.

This new series is set just one week after the events of the film, showcasing how Oz plans on taking advantage of the death of Carmine Falcone in the film.

Fans were quick to praise the 70-minute episode on social media, with some calling it one of the ‘best series of the year.

Some even compare the show to another iconic HBO series, which is considered by many to be one of the greatest shows of all time.

HBO debuted its highly-anticipated series The Penguin on Thursday evening, and fans are already giving it high praise

Some even compare the show to another iconic HBO series, which is considered by many to be one of the greatest shows of all time

The premiere shows Oz taking some complicated and risky steps to try and fill the void of power in the Gotham underworld.

The opening scenes of the show so Oz getting confronted by the heir to the Falcone crime family, Alberto Falcone (Michael Zegan).

While it seems that he’s supplicating to the volatile Alberto throughout the scene… he’s pushed just too far, quickly killing him, which provides the thrust of Oz’s arc. 

The show many fans compared it to already was HBO’s iconic mafia series The Sopranos, since both shows deal with organized crime.

‘A great start to The Penguin. It’s very Sopranos-esque and it’s also funny. Was not expecting the Dolly Parton needle drop,’ said X user @ohhieverybody.

The Dolly Parton needle drop is in fact the country legend’s 1980 hit 9 to 5, which plays over the end credits… ironically, since anything but this criminal underworld life is a 9-to-5 gig. 

The first few scenes show Oz up all night, trying to figure out where to hide Alberto Falcone’s body… which pays off in an amazing fashion. 

The pilot episode follows Oz as he tries to play both Gotham mafia families against each other – the Falcones and the Maronis.

The opening scenes of the show so Oz getting confronted by the heir to the Falcone crime family, Alberto Falcone (Michael Zegan)

While it seems that he’s supplicating to the volatile Alberto throughout the scene… he’s pushed just too far, quickly killing him, which provides the thrust of Oz’s arc

‘A great start to The Penguin. It’s very Sopranos-esque and it’s also funny. Was not expecting the Dolly Parton needle drop,’ said X user @ohhieverybody

In doing so, he finds himself an underling-in-crime in Victor Aguilar (Rhenzy Feliz), a young punk he caught trying to steal his car and turns into his apprentice of sorts. 

While the young Victor struggles with stuttering, Oz clearly has a soft spot for him since they both come from a poor part of Gotham and he takes him under his wing.

Not only are the Falcones shutting down his drug operation, but his sister Sophia (Cristin Milioti) – recently released from Arkham Asylum – wants to know where her brother is.

The final moments of the episode pay off brilliantly, with Victor proving his worth… crashing the car he and Oz hid Alberto’s body in… and making it look like it was the Maroni family’s doing.

Early in the episode, Alberto flaunted his father Carmine’s ring – which was originally Salvatore Maroni’s (Clancy Brown) – but when Oz killed him, he swiped the ring and gave it back to Salvatore in prison.

When Alberto’s body was found in the trunk, his pinky was cut off with the word “Payback” written on the trunk, making the Falcones think it was the Maronis. 

With both of Gotham’s crime families now pitted against each other, Oz will seemingly spend the rest of the eight-episode season trying to seize control of the city himself. 

While the show is very much set within the world created in The Batman, many others on social media continued comparing it to The Sopranos. 

In doing so, he finds himself an underling-in-crime in Victor Aguilar (Rhenzy Feliz), a young punk he caught trying to steal his car and turns into his apprentice of sorts

Not only are the Falcones shutting down his drug operation, but his sister Sophia (Cristin Milioti) – recently released from Arkham Asylum – wants to know where her brother is

‘The Penguin is fire. Similar tone as The Sopranos,’ said X user @youlovejackpot

@UndeadCaesar said, ‘#ThePenguin is the best show in years’

‘The Penguin is fire. Similar tone as The Sopranos,’ said X user @youlovejackpot, while @UndeadCaesar said, ‘#ThePenguin is the best show in years.’

@EandnotY shared a gif of Martin Scorsese and said, ’10/10 first episode #ThePenguin. 

@IAmDavidJTaylor added, ‘How lucky we are for getting more of Colin Farrell as The Penguin? I’m amazed by the first episode.’

He added, ‘Going to be hard to wait 10 more days for the next episode, but I’m locked in. Plus you get Cristin Milioti being awesome as Sofia Falcone. Glad to be back inside this Gotham.’ 

@Ger_Leggett added, ‘I did not know I needed to see Colin Farrell playing The Penguin as Tony Soprano until literally right now.’

@kingofnc85 said, ‘I’m calling it now. The Penguin on MAX is gonna be the best series of the year. I don’t see anything else touching it rn.’ 

@DarthGuyv added, ‘Excellent 1st episode of The Penguin’ while @paultassi added, ‘Ah thank god The Penguin is in fact excellent.’

@RealBrickPal said, ‘The Penguin is an incredible show so far! Great acting, great music, great ending. A fantastic continuation of this version of Gotham City! Love it. Can’t wait for more!’ 

@EandnotY shared a gif of Martin Scorsese and said, ’10/10 first episode #ThePenguin

@IAmDavidJTaylor added, ‘How lucky we are for getting more of Colin Farrell as The Penguin? I’m amazed by the first episode’

@Ger_Leggett added, ‘I did not know I needed to see Colin Farrell playing The Penguin as Tony Soprano until literally right now.’

@kingofnc85 said, ‘I’m calling it now. The Penguin on MAX is gonna be the best series of the year. I don’t see anything else touching it rn.’

@DarthGuyv added, ‘Excellent 1st episode of The Penguin’

@paultassi added, ‘Ah thank god The Penguin is in fact excellent.’

@RealBrickPal said, ‘The Penguin is an incredible show so far! Great acting, great music, great ending. A fantastic continuation of this version of Gotham City! Love it. Can’t wait for more!’

@IzanaGeisler said, ‘THE PENGUIN IS R RATED, GUYS,’ likely referring to a shot of a prostitute flashing young Victor.

@Sharxfn added, ‘If every episode of #ThePenguin is as good as tonight’s episode. It’s going to be the best live action DC project to date. The show is phenomenal, the gritty underworld of Gotham, the crime, and the rise of Oz is going to be legendary.’

@CFC_BaldKante said, ‘The Penguin is a 10/10. Farrell is unreal as Oz, but I think Cristin Milioti outshines him as Sofia Falcone, she’s so so good.’

@IzanaGeisler said, ‘THE PENGUIN IS R RATED, GUYS,’ likely referring to a shot of a prostitute flashing young Victor. 

@Sharxfn added, ‘If every episode of #ThePenguin is as good as tonight’s episode. It’s going to be the best live action DC project to date. The show is phenomenal, the gritty underworld of Gotham, the crime, and the rise of Oz is going to be legendary.’ 

@CFC_BaldKante said, ‘The Penguin is a 10/10. Farrell is unreal as Oz, but I think Cristin Milioti outshines him as Sofia Falcone, she’s so so good.’

The Penguin returns with its second episode on Sunday, September 29 at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT on HBO, continuing in this Sunday 9 PM time slot for the rest of the season.