If Danny DeVito couldn't play the Penguin, who would you cast?

Started by The Laughing Fish, Wed, 14 Nov 2018, 12:14

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I know he was never a big name star and only had supporting roles in Jurassic Park and Basic Insinct...but can you imagine Wayne Knight aka Newman as the Penguin?  ;D





It turns out he voices the Penguin in the Harley Quinn cartoon. I can only imagine him playing the character if it was for a made-for-TV movie. Otherwise, there was no way he'd be in the running with the likes of DeVito back in the day.
QuoteJonathan Nolan: He [Batman] has this one rule, as the Joker says in The Dark Knight. But he does wind up breaking it. Does he break it in the third film?

Christopher Nolan: He breaks it in...

Jonathan Nolan: ...the first two.

Source: http://books.google.com.au/books?id=uwV8rddtKRgC&pg=PR8&dq=But+he+does+wind+up+breaking+it.&hl=en&sa=X&ei

He had a memorable supporting role in JFK and a more prominent (and unforgettable) role in the TV show Seinfeld.

Quote from: Catwoman on Wed, 14 Nov  2018, 13:43
Just throwing out a name: Bob Hoskins.

It's hard to pick because like someone (I think the casting director) said, when it comes to short and nasty it's a pretty small list. Danny fit perfectly. I know anyone could pull off the nasty, but the height is an important part of the character (whichever version) because it plays to his inferiority complex that's part of making him so nasty. Now of course you could pick a taller actor and hunch them over but that would have been uncomfortable as hell even before you add the padding needed for his rotundness. Hello, back surgery.

Assuming Michelle played Selina, you need someone a bit shorter than 5'7 (Bob was only one inch shorter). Now of course if we're recasting every role, you get someone taller than that to play her and you can have a little more wiggle room for the Penguin.

Hoskins is/was at the top of my list after seeing Danny the dog (Unleashed). A huge missed opportunity. It's once character I thought Nolan could of easly worked with

Quote from: eledoremassis02 on Sat,  5 Mar  2022, 14:46
Quote from: Catwoman on Wed, 14 Nov  2018, 13:43
Just throwing out a name: Bob Hoskins.

It's hard to pick because like someone (I think the casting director) said, when it comes to short and nasty it's a pretty small list. Danny fit perfectly. I know anyone could pull off the nasty, but the height is an important part of the character (whichever version) because it plays to his inferiority complex that's part of making him so nasty. Now of course you could pick a taller actor and hunch them over but that would have been uncomfortable as hell even before you add the padding needed for his rotundness. Hello, back surgery.

Assuming Michelle played Selina, you need someone a bit shorter than 5'7 (Bob was only one inch shorter). Now of course if we're recasting every role, you get someone taller than that to play her and you can have a little more wiggle room for the Penguin.

Hoskins is/was at the top of my list after seeing Danny the dog (Unleashed). A huge missed opportunity. It's once character I thought Nolan could of easly worked with


The Long Good Friday (1980) is one of the best – if not the best – British gangster films ever made, and Hoskins is terrific in it. If anyone doubts he'd have made a great Penguin then look no further than that movie for the proof.


I wouldn't be surprised if the cockney Arkham Penguin was at least partly inspired by Hoskins.

After playing Arkham City I definitely agree with Bob Hoskins.

Quote from: eledoremassis02 on Sat,  5 Mar  2022, 14:46
Hoskins is/was at the top of my list after seeing Danny the dog (Unleashed). A huge missed opportunity. It's once character I thought Nolan could of easly worked with


Yes. In the aftermath of the Joker actions with the mob (in addition to Two-Face taking out Maroni), Hoskins' Penguin could have stepped in to fill the void left behind as perhaps a no nonsense mob boss that has a zero tolerance policy for failure.

Long Good Friday (1980), Danny the dog (Unleashed), and to some extent, his portrayal of Eddie Mannix in Hollywoodland (2006) most assuredly convey that Hoskins could have been a wonderful fit for Oswald.


"Imagination is a quality given a man to compensate him for what he is not, and a sense of humour was provided to console him for what he is."