It’s Danny DeVito who says it: his penguin was better than Colin Farrell’s in “The Batman”. Back to the facts.
Over the years, many actors have portrayed Batman’s infamous Penguin, aka Oswald Cobblepot, but Danny DeVito’s bizarre, hilarious, and grotesque version as a Gotham City gangster in Tim Burton’s Batman the Challenge (1992) has able to stand the test of time.
Warner Bros. Danny DeVito in Batman Challenge
More recently, it’s Colin Farrell who has tried his hand at the role, giving the legendary villain a darker edge in Matt Reeves’ The Batman starring Robert Pattinson.
As Variety reports, Danny DeVito made the confession hooked up to a lie detector for Vanity Fair. Asked about the subject, he had to share his opinion on the performance of Colin Farrell. He thus stated:
I love Colin. He’s a great guy. My penguin was better.
The actor then turned to the polygraph examiner and asked what the machine revealed: “Was it the truth? It certainly was. In my opinion.”
The two comedians portrayed Gotham’s villain in distinct settings, DeVito in Tim Burton’s kitsch, gothic style – alongside Michael Keaton as the Dark Knight – and Farrell in Reeves’ dark, moody style. But who says same roles, says comparisons.
DC Movies
Colin Farrell in The Batman
For the anecdote, Variety notably ranked Danny DeVito’s penguin in 3rd position in a ranking of the best Batman live-action villains.
Describing his character as “a whirlwind of vices”, he then ranked behind Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman (Batman, the challenge) in first position, and Tom Hardy’s Bane (The Dark Knight Rises) in second, and just in front of Heath Ledger’s Joker (The Dark Knight).
Rediscover below the trailer for Batman, the challenge in which we can see Danny DeVito in his cult role: