Colin Farrell teases possible 'The Penguin' return with one major condition

Colin Farrell is open to returning as Oz Cobb in more seasons of The Penguin — but only if the story can live up to the impact of the first season.

The 50-year-old actor spoke with People at the season 2 premiere of his Apple TV+ series Sugar at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles on June 17, where he shared his thoughts on continuing HBO’s hit crime drama.

Farrell said he “absolutely” believes there is “a potential to explore more” with The Penguin, but questioned whether future seasons could match the standard already set.

“Should we? Can we get there? Could we justify a second or a third season when the first season was as strong as it was?” he said.

“They’re the conversations that we still need to have,” he added.

The actor explained that discussions about another season will likely depend on the progress of the next Batman movie, where he is set to return.

“The powers that be are working very hard on bringing Batman to life now — the second film, so there’s no time to get into [another season of The Penguin],” Farrell explained.

However, he suggested that once filming on the movie is complete, the possibility of continuing the series could be revisited.

“But maybe when the shooting on that is completed, maybe we’ll start thinking about a second and third season of Penguin,” he said. “But it would have to justify itself. It’d have to be amazing because [showrunner] Lauren LeFranc and her team did such an extraordinary job in the first season.”

The first season of The Penguin followed Oz Cobb as he fought for control of Gotham’s criminal world after the events of The Batman. The series earned critical praise, with Farrell winning a 2025 Golden Globe for his performance.

Alongside discussing The Penguin, Farrell also opened up about returning for season 2 of Sugar, admitting he felt nervous stepping back into the role of private investigator John Sugar.

“Always nervous going to work, regardless of the job, because you’ve no idea what you’re doing, and because you’ve never done it before,” he said.

Farrell explained that every project brings a different challenge, but returning to a familiar character came with its own pressure.

“It was the first time I went back into a role I played previously,” he said.

The actor noted that while he had played Penguin in The Batman, the role was much smaller compared with the series, where he was able to explore the character more deeply.

“With Sugar, I got to play a character that I felt fairly comfortable with in the first season… and I felt I knew him,” Farrell said.

“And so yeah, to go back into it, I was a little nervous. But it’s such a lovely-hearted character… I loved it. I would do this every year if I could.”