Update 1/6/2020: Thus far, Farrell was one of the only major actors who had not been officially confirmed by Matt Reeves to be a part of The Batman‘s cast. But that finally changed late this afternoon with the following tweet:

Our initial article from November 5, 2019 continues below.

Thought we were done with The Batman casting news? Think again! On the heels of a report that Andy Serkis is in talks to play Batman’s loyal butler Alfred comes a story stating Colin Farrell is in talks to play The Penguin. If so, Farrell will be joining previously cast villains Paul Dano as The Riddler and Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, making The Batman a crowded affair indeed.

Deadline has the scoop on Colin Farrell joining The Batman cast as The Penguin. Farrell would be a far cry from the previous live-action Penguin, Danny DeVito’s hideously mutated sewer monster in Batman Returns. The question is: will they “ugly” Farrell up for the role, or are we in store for the most handsome Penguin in Batman history (no offense to Burgess Meredith)?

Matt Reeves is directing the new bat-film, with Robert Pattinson set to star as the Caped Crusader, while Jeffrey Wright is Commissioner Gordon. Adding Farrell alongside Pattinson, Wright, Dano, and Kravitz makes for one hell of a line-up, and who knows how many more characters are left to appear in the film. Deadline states that the Penguin “rounds out the trio of villains” Batman faces off against, but that doesn’t mean we’re not in store for even more characters from the comics.

Reeves previously commented on the multiple villains in the film by telling THR: “You can’t have Batman without a villain. There will be a rogues gallery.” Reeves also added:

“It’s very much a point-of-view-driven, noir Batman tale. It’s told very squarely on his shoulders, and I hope it’s going to be a story that will be thrilling but also emotional. It’s more Batman in his detective mode than we’ve seen in the films.”

Farrell went through a period early in his career where he was forced into leading man roles in action with so-so results. Over the years, though, he’s revealed himself to be a fantastic character actor, turning in one hell of a performance in the dark comedy In Bruges, not to mention even darker comedies like The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer. He also has some experience playing comic book villains: he was Bullseye in Daredevil, which also starred one-time-Batman Ben Affleck.

The Batman is set to hit theaters June 25, 2021.