"The Penguin" showrunner Lauren LeFranc "completely respects" John Turturro's choice not to reprise the role of Carmine Calcone in "The Batman" spinoff series because of violence. Turturro, who played the mob boss in the Matt Reeves film,

The successful series, which was developed by Lauren LeFranc and produced by Reeves, is set two weeks after the end of The Batman, in which Cobb plays the Falcone and Maroni families off against each other in a power grab following the death of mob leader Carmine Falcone.

Turturro said he was okay with the violence in "The Batman" because it "happens off screen." John Turturro is game for gritty material, but he has to draw a line somewhere. "I did what I wanted to with the role,

HBO’s The Penguin has a ton of connections to Matt Reeves’ The Batman, but one is proving more interesting than others. In Reeves’ film, John Turturro played crime boss Carmine Falcone, a character who returns in flashbacks for The Penguin.

We’re more than halfway into The Penguin ’s run on HBO, and along with Colin Farrell’s Oswald Cobb being placed front and center, we’ve also seen some other fellow The Batman alums briefly reprise their roles.

Last month, The Penguin premiered on HBO to rave reviews. The DC series starring Colin Farrell as the titular criminal character is a spin-off of WB’s 2022 The Batman. However, while Farrell returned for the series,

John Turturro has explained why he snubbed the chance to reprise his The Batman role for HBO's The Penguin. The 67-year-old actor played gangster Carmine Falcone in 2022's The Batman opposite lead star Robert Pattinson as the caped crusader.