After the recent comments made by the original Carmine Falcone actor, John Turturro, on why he didn’t reprise his role inThe Penguin, theDCseries' showrunner reacted to his statement. AsThe PenguinTV show is nearing its end, one of the bigger mysteries with the series recently took the spotlight this week. Turturro,the original actor fromThe Batmanwho played Carmine, revealed the reasons why he didn’t return as his character forThe Penguinepisode 4 in the flashbacks, stating that it was primarily because"there was a lot of violence towards women, and that’s not my thing."
As Turturro’s comments on why he didn’t want to play Carmine again inThe Penguingarnered a lot of attention, it didn’t take long for the creator and showrunner Lauren LeFranc to give her side of why they ended up recasting the role toThe Wrap. LeFranc referenced that the recasting was, to her knowledge, due to scheduling conflicts, andaddressed howThe Batmanmovie had already depicted Carmine as a violent individual towards women,sharing the following:
I completely respect an actor who doesn’t want to take on a role for whatever their personal reasons… I only want people to join our show who are excited and want to further the story we’re trying to tell. I think Mark Strong did a really fantastic job. He made the character his own and also really honored what John Turturro did.
To my knowledge it was due to scheduling conflicts.
Carmine in the movie killed Selina Kyle’s mother and then does try to actively kill Selina, and also kills Annika – Selina’s friend… I think it’s been established, and Matt and I are in agreement on this, that Carmine’s a very violent man and has a violent streak against women.
What Lauren LeFranc’s Comments Mean
As LeFranc said herself,The Batmanmovie made it crystal clear that Carmine is extremely violent towards women in his life, having no respect for them whatsoever. That is heavily echoed inThe Penguinseries, especially forSofia Gigante (f.m.a. Sofia Falcone), as viewers got to see the lengths Carmine was willing to go to in order to break his own daughter in episode 4.
In general, there is a lot of violence toward many characters inThe PenguinTV show, regardless of whether they are male or female. In Sofia’s case, while she may be the woman who has been tortured the most,the latest episodes have focused on her getting her revenge on the people who hurt her, as she is now becoming a new power player in Gotham City. IfThe Penguinsimply showed violence towards Sofia and other female characters without them getting any agency or way to push back, this would be a different discussion, to say the least.
Our Take On Lauren LeFranc’s Comments
While time will tell if Turturro will make a follow-up response to LeFranc’s statement, the showrunner’s commentary makes sense given the story ofThe Penguinand how it follows up fromThe Batman. Carmine’s legacy is dismantled throughout the series by Sofia, who is able to reclaim her agency and destroy the Falcone name - changing hers to Gigante to add a final nail in the coffin to Carmine’s empire. With the HBO drama nearing its end, it remains to be seen how this story will conclude, and in what ways it can or will address Carmine Falcone as a character.
The Penguin
Cast
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.
