The Penguin Recast: Why Has Mark Strong Replaced John Turturro’s Carmine Falcone?

The much anticipated spin-off series, The Penguin has recently revealed a major change in its cast. Mark Strong will be essaying the nefarious Gotham City mobster Carmine Falcone in the upcoming series. He has replaced John Turturro, who we saw as Falcone in the 2022 Matt Reeves movie, The Batman.

So, here is everything to know about why Carmine Falcone’s character was recast for The Penguin.

Why did The Penguin recast Mark Strong as Carmine Falcone?

The Penguin has brought in Mark Strong as Carmine Falcone, as John Turturro had other commitments.

Turturro was supposed to reprise his role as Carmine Falcone in The Penguin too, but conflicting schedules got in the way. He is currently busy filming another popular series, the second season of Severance. Hence, Turturro couldn’t return as Falcone for the spin-off series. Showrunner Lauren LeFranc addressed the recasting decision and revealed why Mark Strong had to step in as Falcone.

“John Turturro is just, he’s a busy actor, you know? So his schedule made it really tricky for us,” LeFranc said in an interview with CinemaBlend. He continued, “But honestly, I think what Mark Strong did was so exceptional. It would’ve been great to have John, but I’m really excited for people to see what Mark does with the role because he’s really – he’s very intimidating, and very emotional.”

In Matt Reeves’ The Batman, The Riddler had killed Carmine Falcone. So, the character will appear in the series in flashback sequences. This insinuates that we might see a younger version of Falcone in the series, in which case, Mark Strong stepping into the character’s shoes will seem natural.

HBO’s The Penguin is all set to arrive on September 19, 2024, and will run for eight episodes. Set a week after the events of the 2022 movie, the series will chronicle the titular villain’s rise in power in Gotham City. Colin Farrell will reprise his role as The Gentleman of Crime.

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