Notice! This post contains SPOILERS for episode 7 of The PenguinOswald Cobblepot’s Origin Story Has Some Twists The Penguinwhich shows how the DC villain became a powerful criminal in BatmanIt’s continuity. The Penguin The end of episode 7 marks the end of the series, bringing Oz Cobb and Sofia Gigante back together for a final confrontation. Before the imminent confrontation between the two villains, The Penguin reveals how Oswald Cobblepot took his first steps towards becoming Gotham’s infamous “Penguin” at a young age and of his own free will.
The Penguin is the first live-action DC project to give Oswald Cobblepot’s brothers a major role in his origin. The 1960s Batman the series did not explore the Penguin’s childhood, GothamThe flashbacks to Oz’s childhood focused only on the Penguin’s close relationship with his mother, and Batman Returns reveals that Oz’s parents abandoned him as a baby. Now, not only The Penguin includes the Oz brothers prominently for the first time, but also adapts their deaths from the source material.
How the Penguin Changes the Origin of Oz in DC
Oz Cobb has different motivations for killing his Penguin brothers
In the comics, young Oswald Cobblepot is relentlessly bullied during his childhood due to his physical appearance. Oz’s brothers are part of the problem, as they constantly mock and embarrass him. When they attack Oz’s pet birds, Oz decides to kill them. As Penguin: Pain and Prejudice reveals, Oz poisons Jason, crashes his car into William, and throws Robert into a frozen lake. Oz then continues to release his frustrations through violence and eventually accepts his physical appearance, embracing it to become Gotham’s villain, “The Penguin”.
Oz simply explodes when his brothers try to venture into Gotham’s sewers knowing that Oz can’t keep up with them
The Penguin changes Oz’s motivations for killing his brothers. Instead of killing his brothers as revenge for years of bullying, Oz simply becomes angry when his brothers attempt to venture into Gotham’s sewers knowing that Oz is unable to keep up with them due to his limp in his leg. Oz also takes a less violent, but perhaps more cruel, approach to the murders. Instead of attacking them, Oz locks his brothers in the sewer during a storm, drowning them. In the series ‘ Other worlds universe, The PenguinOz Cobb has only two brothers: Jack and Benny.
Oz’s origin story is a dark mirror to Batman’s
The Penguin Reverses Bruce Wayne’s Childhood Tragedy in Batman’s Absence
The Penguin shows how Oz Cobb’s origin story is similar to Bruce Wayne’s. Oz and Bruce’s lives were split in two during their childhood after the deaths of two of their close relatives.marking the beginning of his transformation into a criminal and a vigilante, respectively. The death of their family served as motivation for them to prove themselves and eliminated genuine relationships that could have prevented them from achieving their darkest desires.
While Batman witnessed the death of his parents, the Penguin consciously decided to murder his brothers. Bruce Wayne found inspiration in his parents’ deaths, as they taught him that fighting crime could prevent similar tragedies. Oz Cobb, however, misinterpreted his mother’s need for protection as a call for exclusive companionship, which slowly turned into a thirst for control and power. Bruce also began a crusade for revenge disguised as justice, while Oz turned to a life of crime after enjoying murder. Years after their respective defining moments, Batman and The Penguin show how far they’ve both come – in completely opposite directions.
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