EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros is negotiating with Colin Farrell to play The Penguin in the Matt Reeves-directed The Batman. If the deal closes, he will round out the trio of villains going against Rob Pattinson’s Caped Crusader, with Paul Dano as The Riddler and Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman.

The Irish-born actor has turned in an array of performances in very different films that include Dumbo, Widows, Roman J. Israel Esq, The Lobster and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and has dialed up the intensity in a superhero villain role before when he menaced Ben Affleck’s Daredevil character in the showy role of Bullseye, years ago.

The Penguin was played by Danny DeVito in Tim Burton’s Batman Returns in 1992.

Farrell is repped by CAA