Danny DeVito Would "Definitely Consider" Playing the Penguin Again in the DC Multiverse
It was pretty awesome seeing Michael Keaton back in action as Batman in The Flash movie. I never thought I’d see him in that role again! So, that was quite a cool treat! Danny DeVito is also up for returning to his role as The Penguin in the DC cinematic multiverse if the opportunity ever presented itself. During a recent interview with SFX magazine, DeVito was asked if he would come back to play The Penguin, and he said:
"I would definitely consider doing it, yeah. 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."
While it would be fun to see DeVito as Penguin again, I just don’t think it would be as wonderfully grotesque as Tim Burton’s version of the character. The actor then got up in the middle of the interview to grab an old prop from the Batman Returns… his black and white-patterned spinning umbrella.
"Do you know what that is? That is the original Penguin’s umbrella. Ladies and gentlemen, watch his mind be blown… Yeah, it’s here. It’s here! It’s mine! What? You got a problem with that?"
That would’ve been such an awesome thing to see! What a cool interview that must’ve been! DeVito previously shared that he would like to reprise the role in a Batman movie someday if Burton ever decides to return to the franchise. He said:
"I feel like it's not out of the question that The Penguin will return someday, but this is all up to Tim, whether or not Tim wants to do this. I would say that could be in the cards because we ain't dead yet (laughs). We could do a continuation of what we had in the past because that was truly a brilliant movie. They afforded me that opportunity and I feel very grateful and would I like to revisit it? Why not! It was a really great moment in time for me."
"There is a little Oswald in me. And then there's Danny. I'm not a closed book, I'm pretty much an open book."
DeVito is so connected to the character that he actually wrote a Penguin story for DC Comics a couple of years ago! DeVito will next be seen in Disney’s Haunted Mansion. He plays Bruce, a university professor who’s "very much into the occult" and called in to offer his expertise.