If you want to list the popularity of DC villains, the Joker is undoubtedly the No. 1 villain. Following Heath Ledger's legendary performance, Joaquin Phoenix once again injected a lonely and desperate soul into the Joker, dwarfing other villains who stayed in stereotypes. Howeve

If you want to list the popularity of DC villains, the Joker is undoubtedly the number one.

Following Heath Ledger’s legendary performance, Joaquin Phoenix once again injected a lonely and desperate soul into the Joker, making other villains who stay in stereotyped settings pale in comparison.

However, as the reputation of "Joker 2" has turned upside down, another Gotham villain is challenging the top spot in the villain world with his own exclusive series.

"Penguin", this fat-bellied criminal with a ferocious face, has successfully gained unprecedented attention in the latest HBO series of the same name. At present, the show has a stable score of 8.8 on both Douban and imdb, making it the most successful Gotham spin-off show .

The new drama "Penguin" will take over the 2022 movie " New Batman ", telling the story of the reshuffle of Gotham City's dark forces after the death of Falcone leader Carmine. The series draws on classic works such as "Scarface" and "The Sopranos" to reshape the origin story of Penguin Oz in the form of a gangster drama, showing how he traveled among the major forces and climbed to the top. The throne of power in the criminal world.

In order to fit the realistic tone set by the movie, screenwriter Lauren LeFranc made drastic changes to the setting of Oz, changing the surname Cobblepot, which originally symbolized noble status, into an ordinary one. Cobb took off his iconic monocle, top hat and tailcoat, and removed the umbrella and crutches with built-in mechanisms. The Oz Cobb who finally appeared in front of the audience was just a man of humble origins and accepted by others. The despised gangster working dog was derided as the "Penguin" because of his round body and wobbly gait caused by his lameness.

The lack of family wealth does not weaken the charm of the character. On the contrary, Oz shows a more ruthless and witty side in the face of crisis.

Oz is pushed into danger at the beginning of the play. He was ridiculed and shot Carmine's successor, Alberto Falcone, in a fit of rage. In order to escape responsibility, he secretly colluded with Falcone's rival family, both to plan a way out and to place the blame on others. But what followed was a difficult time dealing with the questioning and investigation of Alberto's sister Sofia. The latter has the reputation of "the hanged prisoner". She has just been released from the hellish Arkham Asylum. Filled with anger and madness, she vows to dig deep into the ground to crush the bones of the betrayer who killed her loved ones.

This play always maintains the subtle and tense struggle between Oz and Sophia and other opponents. Oz is not a wily criminal master. The endless schemes can only bring short-term respite, and greater disasters will always follow. This also makes the rhythm of the show always maintain tension, allowing the audience to follow Oz on the knife. Dancing on the tip.

Oz may be the most duplicitous villain we have ever seen, but he is not inherently evil. Colin Farrell, wrapped in layers of special effects makeup and prosthetics, still made the audience feel Oz's versatility with his superb acting skills.

He is ruthless, sensitive and irritable, but when he returns to the apartment to take off his prosthetic legs, he reveals a bit of painful vulnerability; he is shameless and shameless, but his childhood hero is a helpful and respected gangster brother; He is cunning, insidious, despicable and ruthless, but he will never abandon his sick old mother, and he also has pure kindness towards his new little brother Victor.

Victor is not an original character in the comics. His addition is another wonderful original creation of this show. He was about to die for stealing Oz's car tires, but his stuttering moved Oz to take pity on him and make him his personal assistant. Interestingly, the plot of the first meeting to steal a tire was inspired by the encounter between the second Robin and Batman, except that Batman trained Robin to be a vigilante, while Penguin chose to let Victor dump the body and frame it.

Obviously, Oz saw his own shadow in Victor: a young gangster who took risks due to desperate circumstances, had not yet adapted to the cold laws of the jungle, and was full of yearning for a better life.Oz unconsciously takes on the role of father, guiding him on how to survive in the jungle world of Gotham.

Getting along with Victor not only gives Oz more humanity, but also allows us to indirectly glimpse how Oz became the unscrupulous person he is today through Victor's perspective. He must have experienced enough lessons to understand that in Gotham City, it is simply wishful thinking for low-level people like him to live a good and dignified life by relying solely on the righteous path.

Sofia would agree with this, she and Oz are two sides of the same coin. Although she was born rich and was once the designated heir of the Falcone family, when she wanted to act according to her conscience, she discovered that all she had was a mirror. To gain status and power, she had to abandon the meekness and kindness of the past and embrace The stigma that was imposed on her. Whether it is Oz, Victor, or Sofia, they all have to bury part of their innocence in the end in order to find a foothold in this city of sin .

dc has been trying to "go Batman" to Gotham City. "Penguin" is the most successful one so far and further expands the story pattern. This is no longer a single stage for heroes and villains, but a world full of complex human nature.

We no longer just watch the evil of Gotham from the rooftops, but through the perspective of Oz and others, we personally step onto the dark and gray streets and feel the trauma of this city.

This is the quagmire of the broken American dream. Those with dreams are struggling in the whirlpool of disappointment and despair, and have to seek the realization of self-worth in extreme ways.

Neither the Penguin nor the Hanged Prisoner are monsters created out of thin air. Instead, they are shaped by the cruel reality of the city and eventually become integrated with it and become part of the darkness.

Wu Sensen

Editor Chen Lingling