With 2022’s The Batman, movie audiences greeted a new version of the Dark Knight, with Robert Pattinson as the lead role. That film also introduced its own Penguin via an unrecognizable Colin Farrell.

While a second Pattinson-led Batman movie apparently won’t arrive until 2027, fans got something to tide them over in 2024: The Penguin, an HBO limited series that – obviously - concentrated on its title character.

This three-disc set includes all eight episodes. The plot synopses come from the series’ official website.

After Hours: “In the wake of Carmine Falcone’s death, Oz ‘The Penguin’ Cobb (Farrell) attempts to legitimize himself among Gotham’s criminal underworld.”

The series picks up literally where The Batman ended, as this episode’s introduction recaps events that concluded the film. Despite that sense of continuation, “Hours” exists as a pretty standard pilot episode.

Oz didn’t play a major role in The Batman, as that one focused much more on the Riddler along with Catwoman. While Penguin existed as a supporting role, he didn’t get a ton of screen time.

That said, at least The Batman established a Penguin different from the standard umbrella-toting criminal mastermind. Indeed, this Penguin seems more like the one from TV’s Gotham.

In that series, Penguin started as an assistant to a more prominent mobster and grew in power from there. At its core, Penguin comes with the same premise.

The main difference stems from the fact Gotham brought as a prequel in which Batman doesn’t appear until the very last episode, whereas the Dark Knight already exists and acts in this series’ universe. The question becomes how much of that presence we’ll feel through Penguin.

At least for the first show, the answer becomes “very little”. After the opening references to the events of The Batman, “Hours” goes down its own path and brings no additional reminders of Batman or Riddler.

Which seems fine, I guess. This does mean “Hours” plays like a fairly standard gangster show without anything in particular to separate it from that genre.

Not that this means I didn’t enjoy “Hours”, as it shows spark. It definitely brings more laughs than did The Batman, a relentlessly dour experience.

Of course, “Hours” leans toward dark humor, so don’t expect camp silliness. The comedy suits the show and works.

Anyway, while “Hours” leaves me uncertain why Penguin will exist as a series in the Batman universe, it acts as a solid pilot. I feel interested to see where the show goes from here.

Inside Man: “Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti) works to secure her family’s strength, while Oz attempts to play both the Falcone and Maroni families to his advantage.”

At least through two episodes, Sofia feels like the most compelling Penguin character. As we learn, she became imprisoned as a serial killer called “Hangman” and just recently got out of Arkham Asylum.

This means Sofia’s not the most stable woman in terms of her emotional and psychological functioning. Milioti plays her as slightly unhinged but not overtly nuts, and that makes Sofia interesting.

Beyond her greater development, “Man” offers additional movement in terms of Oz’s schemes. Nothing stunning materializes in “Man” but the episode pushes the narrative ahead well.

Bliss: “Hoping to control the future of Gotham’s drug trade, Oz and Sofia must first address the skeletons in their closet. Meanwhile, Victor Aguilar (Rhenzy Feliz) is torn between his new life and what remains of his old.”

That second sentence offers the biggest character development in “Bliss”, as we get to know young Victor much better. I don’t know if he offers the most compelling role, but at least the episode adds to his growth as part of the series.

Otherwise, “Bliss” focuses mainly on the partnership between Oz and Sofia to promote the titular new “party drug” they want to sell. “Bliss” offers reasonable intrigue, even if Penguin still feels like a fairly standard gangster series and not one that needs to be in the Batman universe.

Cent'anni: “Confronting the events that turned her into ‘The Hangman’ – and led to a decade-long fight to survive in Arkham State Hospital – Sofia makes plans for a more hopeful future.”

Sofia receives the same expository treatment here that Victor received in the prior show. However, whereas Victor’s backstory only became a sliver of “Bliss”, our look at Sofia’s past fills the vast majority of the program.

“Cent’anni” gives us a good view of what drove Sofia around the bend and it also “feels more Batman” via all the time it spends at Arkham as well as the inclusion of Magpie, an actual Batman foe. This becomes one of the series’ better shows.

Homecoming: “With his nascent operation at stake, Oz makes a desperate move to turn the tables. Meanwhile, Sofia strives to build a new legacy for herself.”

After all that backstory in “Cent’anni”, we return to “present day” for “Homecoming”. This means a tale more centered on gangster antics and shenanigans.

This allows matters to heat up, mainly as the battles become more violent. While not as impressive a show as “Cent’anni”, at least “Homecoming” advances the series’ main narrative pretty well.

Gold Summit: “Despite his enemies’ attempts to smoke him out, Oz seeks to expand his reach in the city. Meanwhile, Victor crosses paths with a former adversary.”

Another day, another episode of general gangster activities. This thickens the general plot but doesn’t reinvent any wheels. That leaves it as a good but unexceptional program.

Top Hat: “Oz fights to preserve everything he’s built, while Sofia makes a shocking discovery.”

After prior episodes offered flashbacks to the earlier lives of Sofia and Victor, Oz gets that treatment here. Briefly, at least, as this aspect of “Hat” doesn’t fill a lot of running time.

Which disappoints, as I like our glimpses of adolescent Oz (Ryder Allen). Still, the rest of “Hat” builds the season’s overall arc in a lively and dramatic manner so it sends us toward the finale well.

A Great or Little Thing: “Truths are laid bare as Oz Cobb nears the end of his journey and his power struggle with Sofia comes to a head.”

Penguin comes to a dramatic conclusion with “Thing”, one that may eventually connect to The Batman II. Or not – who knows?

“Thing” does offer nods toward Batman that bring enticing teases. It also comes with some brutal choices that lead to a series of violent confrontations.

All this allows “Thing” to deliver a fitting finale for a largely good series. As noted previously, I don’t really see how much this tale needs to exist in the Batman universe, as Penguin largely feels like other gangster efforts.

But also as mentioned, all this may tie to the next theatrical film, so that may allow it to make more sense in this realm. Whatever the case, Penguin becomes a mostly compelling crime drama.

The Penguin appears in an aspect ratio of 2.00:1 on these 4K UHD Discs. Taken from a native 4K source, the Dolby Vision presentations worked well.

Sharpness satisfied at all times. No issues with softness marred the images.

Neither jagged edges nor moiré effects impacted the shows, and I saw no edge haloes. Source flaws failed to manifest.

Penguin opted for a palette with a heavy amber/orange vibe, though a grungy sense of teal became more common as the series progressed. The discs reproduced these colors well, with added impact via HDR.

Blacks felt deep and dense, while shadows seemed smooth and clear. Given the dark orientation of the shows, that became more important.

HDR brought extra punch to whites and contrast. The episodes looked solid.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the series’ Dolby Atmos audio seemed more than satisfactory. Though Penguin lacked a ton of standout moments, the soundtracks nonetheless suited the episodes.

Of course, sporadic action scenes fared best, as those used the various channels in a broad and impactful manner. Otherwise, the tracks boasted good involvement for music and the various settings.

Audio quality satisfied, with music that appeared bold and full. Effects seemed accurate and lively, with fine low-end as well.

Dialogue came across as natural and crisp, without edginess. I felt pleased with the audio for these programs.

Across all three discs, we find featurettes called Inside Gotham. Taken together, these fill a total of 51 minutes, 30 seconds.

The segments include remarks from creator/showrunner Lauren LeFranc, executive producers Matt Reeves and Dylan Clark, executive producer/director Craig Zobel, editors Meg Reticker, Henk Van Eeghen and Andy Keir, VFX supervisor Johnny Han, directors Helen Shaver, Jennifer Getzinger and Kevin Bray, director of photography Jonathan Freeman, supervising art director Deborah Wheatley, costume designer Helen Huang, hair department head Brian Badie, makeup department head Martha Melendez, and actors Colin Farrell, Rhenzy Feliz, Cristin Milioti, Deirdre O'Connell, Clancy Brown, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Michael Kelly, Carmen Ejogo, and Ryder Allen.

Across these, we get notes about characters and story elements as well as effects, music, photography and sets, costumes, hair and makeup. The first few "Inside" clips seem puffy but they pick up as they go along, so ultimately we get some good material along the way.

Three additional reels show up on Disc One. Introducing the Penguin spans five minutes, seven seconds and offers info from Farrell, Reeves, LeFrank, Clark, and Zobel.

The featurette examines Oz's portrayal in The Batman and how the series develops him and the Gotham City setting along with other characters. It gives us some decent notes.

The Origin Of Oz lasts four minutes, four seconds. It brings notes from Farrell, Reeves, Clark, LeFranc, Zobel, O'Connell, and Feliz.

In this program, we get more about the series' characters and its overall narrative.

Disc One finishes with Welcome to Gotham. During the four-minute, 21-second piece, we hear from LeFranc, Farrell, Reeves, Zobel, Feliz, Clark, Milioti, and production designer Kalina Ivanov.

As implied by the title, "Welcome" digs into the series' depiction of Gotham City. It becomes another decent but not especially insightful segment.

More programs show up on Disc Three, where Gotham Re-Envisioned occupies four minutes, 43 seconds with notes from Reeves, LeFranc, Ivanov, Clark, Han, Wheatley, location manager Keith Adams and SPFX set foreman Cory Candrilli.

"Re-Envisioned" expands on "Welcome" as it tells us more about the series' version of Gotham. It comes with better details than its predecessor.

Becoming the Penguin goes for three minutes, 17 seconds. We hear from Reeves, Farrell, LeFranc, and SPFX makeup prosthetic designer Mike Marino.

Here we get a little about the makeup used to transform Farrell into Oz. Despite its brevity, it gives us a few good thoughts.

Next comes the four-minute, one-second Who Is the Hangman. It involves LeFranc, Milioti, Reeves, Farrell, and Kelly.

More notes about Sofia pop up here. It feels superficial, however.

Hearts of the Penguin spans three minutes, 52 seconds. This one features LeFranc, Reeves, Farrell, O'Connell, and Ejogo.

This one digs into a few female roles. Like "Hangman", it offers a few worthwhile nuggets but mostly feels fluffy.

With A Tale of Two Gothams, we discover a three-minute, 51-second featurette. It comes with remarks from Reeves, LeFranc, Farrell, O'Connell, Feliz, Milioti, and Aghdashloo.

"Tale" looks at the class structure in the series. It follows the last pair to offer a mediocre reel.

Finally, The Making of a Henchman fills seven minutes, 21 seconds. Here we get statements from LeFranc, Feliz, Farrell, Clark, Reeves, and fluency consultant Marc Winski.

The program gives us a closer look at the Victor character. It gives us a decent mix of insights.

While I admit its connection to the Batman universe seems tenuous and not especially relevant, The Penguin nonetheless becomes a pretty solid series. It uses a fairly standard gangster framework to give us an engaging look at the rise of a legendary character. The 4K UHD discs offer terrific visuals as well as good audio and a mix of bonus materials. I find a lot to like about The Penguin.