This text comprises spoilers for “The Penguin.”
All of us knew Robert Pattinson’s Batman was by no means going to indicate up in “The Penguin,” and but so many followers certainly hoped that the Darkish Knight would descend in some unspecified time in the future. Alas, the eight-episode HBO sequence wrapped up with out such a cameo, although “The Penguin” did arrange “The Batman: Half II” fairly properly by ending on a shot of the Bat sign looming over the Gotham sky.
However whereas the present could not have given us Pattinson’s avenger, it did function fairly a couple of Easter eggs and refined nods to DC’s comics, in addition to teeing up some main occasions to return. The truth that Cristin Milioti’s Sofia Falcone receives a letter from Zoe Kravitz’s Selina Kyle/Catwoman throughout the finale, for instance, suggests we could possibly be seeing a team-up between these two forsaken daughters of the late Carmine Falcone (Mark Robust in “The Penguin,” John Turturro in “The Batman”). In the meantime, showrunner Lauren LeFranc snuck in a deep reduce DC villain throughout an episode of “The Penguin” set in Arkham Asylum. Because it seems, although, that episode additionally contains a hidden element that hints on the existence of a way more well-known Batman rogue.
Is Dr. Julian Rush actually an notorious Batman rogue?
Episode 4 of “The Penguin,” titled “Cent’anni,” established the present’s strongest connection to 2022’s “The Batman” by exploring the historical past of Carmine Falcone’s crimes and the way it affected his daughter, Sofia. It was an prolonged flashback that in the end noticed Sofia dedicated to Arkham Asylum and subjected to brutal electroshock therapies. Whereas there, she meets Dr. Julian Rush (Theo Rossi), who oversees her therapy alongside his superior, Dr. Ventris (T. Ryder Smith). Dr. Rush then proceeds to kind a bond with Sofia throughout her keep on the asylum and stays involved along with her after she’s launched.
Anybody who was following the “Penguin” discourse will concentrate on the hypothesis surrounding Dr. Rush, with many followers postulating that this could possibly be the Matt Reeves-verse equal of Batman villain Dr. Hugo Unusual and even Dr. Jonathan Crane, the person who, in DC’s comics, in the end turns into The Scarecrow. In any case, it would not be the primary time the Reeves-verse has modified well-established character names, with “The Batman” renaming Paul Dano’s Riddler from Edward Nygma, as he is identified within the comics, to Edward Nashton.
Now, it appears, we now have one thing near affirmation that Dr. Rush is in truth a model of Scarecrow. As famous by Everything_DCU on Twitter/X, a scene in episode 4 of the sequence seems to indicate two necessary parts of Scarecrow’s outfit sitting on Dr. Rush’s desk within the current day: a fear-toxin glove and masks.
Scarecrow’s syringe glove and masks was teased in Cent’Anni (episode 4) of THE PENGUIN!
Appears to be like like we’d have a clue of potential villain in THE BATMAN PART II👀 pic.twitter.com/NLohznK1T1
— Everything_DCU (@EverythingDCU_) November 15, 2024
The Penguin nearly definitely units up a future Scarecrow look
First launched in “World’s Most interesting Comics #3” again in September 1941, Scarecrow has grow to be one of the crucial recognizable figures in Batman’s rogues gallery, and was most notably portrayed by Cillian Murphy in Christopher Nolan’s inaugural 2005 Batman film, “Batman Begins.” Now, with this stuff displaying up in Dr. Rush’s workplace, it appears as if a future Matt Reeves Batman mission might additionally function the villain.
A very discerning Redditor seen that the glove and masks weren’t current in an earlier scene set in Dr. Rush’s workplace from episode 2. As consumer BebehBokChoy famous, within the scene in episode 4 the place Sofia visits Rush’s workplace, she was not speculated to be there and solely reveals up unexpectedly, which might imply the physician did not have time to place his masks and glove away — though giving such issues pleasure of place on the desk within the workplace the place you deal with sufferers is unquestionably a rookie supervillain mistake.
Numerous photographs within the scene from episode 4 of “The Penguin” reveal that the glove in query carefully resembles that of the Scarecrow’s within the Arkham Asylum video video games, the place the villain hooked up concern toxin-filled syringes to the fingers. It appears Matt Reeves could possibly be planning to borrow that online game element for “The Batman: Half II,” which might make that mission much more extremely anticipated than it already is. For now, we’ll have to attend till the movie debuts on October 2, 2026 to seek out out.