Series guide
- Crime
- Drama
- Film noir
- Superhero
The Penguin is an eight-episode HBO Max crime drama set a week after The Batman, with Colin Farrell as Oz Cobb. All eight episodes are streaming on HBO Max in the US, it runs about eight hours end to end, and the story is complete – it leads into The Batman Part II rather than a season 2.
- Stars
- Colin Farrell · Cristin Milioti · Rhenzy Feliz
Images: HBO Max
Where to watch The Penguin
Streaming options in the United States, updated Sep 15, 2026. More from hbomax.com. Service logos are trademarks of their owners.
- Episodes aired
- 8 of 8
The Penguin episodes 8
Season 1 · 8 episodes · 8 aired · Sep 19, 2024 to Nov 10, 2024
S1.E1 ·
After Hours
A week after Carmine Falcone's murder leaves Gotham's underworld without a head, driver and middle-man Oz Cobb makes a move he cannot take back, and picks up a witness he cannot shake.
Directed by Craig Zobel · Written by Lauren LeFranc
S1.E2 ·
Inside Man
The Falcone family closes ranks around a new boss while Oz plays both crime families off each other and starts turning his teenage witness into a driver.
Directed by Craig Zobel · Written by Erika L. Johnson
S1.E3 ·
Bliss
A new street drug surfaces in Gotham and Oz sees the opening he has been waiting for, if he can talk the city's other outfits into moving it for him.
Directed by Craig Zobel · Written by Noelle Valdivia
S1.E4 ·
Cent'Anni
An hour that belongs to Sofia Falcone, tracing how a mob boss's daughter ended up committed to Arkham and what the family did while she was inside.
Directed by Helen Shaver · Written by John McCutcheon
S1.E5 ·
Homecoming
Oz gambles on a kidnapping to get a stolen shipment back, while Vic is left watching over Oz's mother on the night none of it is supposed to go wrong.
Directed by Helen Shaver · Written by Breannah Gibson & Shaye Ogbonna
S1.E6 ·
Gold Summit
The operation is running and growing, which makes Oz a target for everyone he cut out, and forces Vic to decide what he actually is inside it.
Directed by Kevin Bray · Written by Nick Towne
S1.E7 ·
Top Hat
Sofia takes the one thing Oz cannot replace and Maroni finally gets his hands on him, while an hour of Oz's childhood explains exactly who he has always been.
Directed by Kevin Bray · Written by Vladimir Cvetko
S1.E8 ·
A Great or Little Thing
Everything Oz built and everything he buried come due in a finale that sets Gotham's table for The Batman Part II.
Directed by Jennifer Getzinger · Written by Lauren LeFranc
Videos 2
Where this sits in Matt Reeves’ Batman, and how long it takes
The Penguin is a bridge, and a short one. Eight episodes ran on HBO Max from September 19 to November 10, 2024, and they open roughly a week after the seawall flood that ends The Batman. Nothing else is required viewing: if you saw the 2022 film you have everything you need, and if you did not, the first hour explains the vacuum at the top of Gotham’s underworld in about ten minutes.
At 47 to 68 minutes an episode, the whole thing is a shade under eight hours – two long weekends. The value in the episode list above is that the episodes are not interchangeable. Episode 4 gives most of its hour to Cristin Milioti’s Sofia, and episode 7 does the same for Oz’s own past. Skipping either because the mob plot seems to be on pause is the most common way people lose the thread.
Lauren LeFranc created it and wrote the premiere and the finale, Craig Zobel, Helen Shaver, Kevin Bray and Jennifer Getzinger directed, and DC Studios and Warner Bros. Television produced – and it is worth knowing going in that it is built as a closed story rather than season one of something. We looked at whether HBO would order more in our piece on The Penguin’s future; for now the finale points at The Batman Part II rather than at a season 2. If you want more Gotham after it, our ranking of the best DC TV shows is where to go next.
The Penguin cast 7
Colin FarrellOswald "Oz" Cobb / The Penguin
Cristin MiliotiSofia Falcone- Rhenzy FelizVictor "Vic" Aguilar
- Deirdre O'ConnellFrancis Cobb
Clancy BrownSal Maroni
Michael ZegenAlberto Falcone
Mark StrongCarmine Falcone
- Director
- Craig Zobel, Helen Shaver
- Writer
- Lauren LeFranc
- Studios
- DC Studios, Warner Bros. Television Studios
Photos via Wikimedia Commons. Colin Farrell: Quejaytee, CC BY 4.0; Cristin Milioti: Kevin Paul, CC BY 4.0; Clancy Brown: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0; Michael Zegen: Tabercil, CC BY-SA 2.0; Mark Strong: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0.
More The Penguin coverage
Rate The Penguin
Sign in to rate it and earn Hero Pass progress.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I watch The Penguin?
The Penguin streams on HBO Max in the US with a subscription. All eight episodes are there; there is no free ad-supported tier for it.
How many episodes of The Penguin are there?
Eight, all of them on HBO Max. At 47 to 68 minutes each, the full season is a little under eight hours.
When did The Penguin premiere?
September 19, 2024. It ran weekly from there and finished on November 10, 2024.
Will there be a season 2 of The Penguin?
Nothing has been ordered. It was made as a self-contained story that leads into The Batman Part II rather than as the first season of an ongoing series.
