Before Colin Farrell acquiesced to wearing boatloads of prosthetics to play an ur-version of the Penguin in 2022’s The Batman, Danny DeVito donned some foam latex of his own to play his own version of the character (pictured above) in Tim Burton’s Batman Returns, which came out in 1992.
Multiverses are a thing now, however, and there’s a non-zero chance that DeVito could play the Penguin again if he wanted to. And in a recent interview, he confirmed that he’s not only more than ready to take on the role again, but still has some props from his Penguin days to get him right back into character.
“I would definitely consider doing it, yeah,” DeVito told SFX Magazine about playing the Penguin once more. “Batman Returns was a great part, it was operatic. You could just pull out all the stops. There were so many motivating things, so many things churning up inside of him. Being the odd man out—the odd bird out—brought the character out of me. It was an emotional experience for me because I felt it was an opportunity of a lifetime to play Oswald Cobblepot with Tim’s vision and design. Tim is a genius to me.”
DeVito had more to back up his words, however. During the SFX interview, which took place via Zoom, he went off-screen to retrieve something. “I have something you’re gonna really like, just stay right where you are. Don’t move,” he told the reporter before going off camera. When he came back on, a black-and-white spinning umbrella comes with him. “That is the original Penguin’s umbrella,” DeVito said proudly.
I love the fact that not only does DeVito still have that umbrella, but it’s somewhere in his house where he can readily access it. Whether the powers that be at DC Entertainment take him up on his offer remains to be seen, however. In the meantime though, you can check out DeVito in the upcoming Haunted Mansion film, which is set to premiere on July 26, 2023, or rewatch him as the Penguin in Batman Returns, which is now available on Max and Starz.
