The Penguin introduced something of a teenage sidekick for the iconic DC villain.

Victor Aguilar, The Penguin, DC logo

The Penguin‘s Victor Aguilar may have some connections to DC Comics lore.

Though this series is just the first, there will be more spin-offs after The Penguin in Matt Reeves’ The Batman universe. It serves as the first proper expansion of this unique take on the world of the iconic DC hero.

Leading the charge in the R-rated HBO drama is The Batman actor Colin Farrell, as the cruel crime lord Oz Cobb, a middling Gotham City criminal who craves more.

The Penguin’s Victor Aguilar Explained

Rhenzy Feliz as Victor Aguilar standing in front of a window in The PenguinThe Penguin
Episode 1 of HBO’s The Penguin introduced audiences to Rhenzy Feliz’s Victor Aguilar, a Gotham City teen who crosses paths with the series’s titular criminal early on.

Aguilar is revealed to be a young down-and-out teenager living in Gotham who is taken under the wing of/kidnapped and held hostage by Colin Farrell’s Oz Cobb (aka The Penguin).

The pair enter each other’s orbit early in Episode 1, as the Farrell’s crimped-nosed crook finds Aguilar and some friends trying to strip his plum-colored Maserati of its tires.

While much of Matt Reeves’ The Batman world is steeped in DC Comics lore, with characters like Cristin Milioti’s Sofia Falcone debuting in The Penguin, Aguilar is a wholly original character created for the series.

There are plenty of Victors from the Batman canon, including villains Victor Zsasz and Victor Fries (aka Mr. Freeze), but this particular Victor does not look like he will turn into either.

While not directly being pulled from the page of the comics, the character is nothing new for the Batman world.

Gotham City has no shortage of famous orphans being picked up off the street for bigger and better things (if you want to call Victor becoming The Penguin’s protege that).

Even Batman himself would have fallen into this category. He was also a wayward youth who, years after the death of his parents, found his purpose in bringing the kinds of criminals who wronged him and his family to justice by taking on the Batman persona and spending his nights as a masked vigilante.

The Victor Aguilar Robin Theory

Jason Todd's Robin and Bruce Wayne in his Batman costume standing on a wall in DC ComicsDC Comics
Some have speculated that, despite Victor Aguilar’s lack of comic book precedent at DC, he could end up being The Batman universe’s first Robin, replacing Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne.

In fact, the character’s introduction in Episode 1 seems to directly reference Jason Todd (the second Robin) from DC Comics.

In the comics, Jason Todd is introduced to Bruce Wayne/Batman when he is caught trying to steal the tires off the Batmobile on a Gotham City street. The Caped Crusader then takes the young boy under his cape and recruits him for his crime-fighting endeavors.
Jason Todd's introduction to Batman in the DC ComicsDC Comics
Aguilar’s first scene in The Penguin operates similarly. He, too, is caught trying to pull the wheels of a car (The Penguin’s brightly colored Maserati in this case), only to be brought in as a partner by the person he was initially stealing from.

While Aguilar’s recruitment starts on a bit more of a life-or-death note, with Colin Farrell’s DC villain holding him hostage to help dispose of a body, the two stories get to a similar place.

This does not confirm that Aguilar is on the path to becoming the first Robin in The Batman universe. But there is enough connective tissue if the creatives behind the grounded superhero world want to make that jump.

The Batman‘s Robert Pattinson previously said he wants a Robin in his movie, calling the prospect “so cool:”

“Yeah, but he has to be 13. That’s the only way I’ll accept it. No, I love ‘Death in the Family’ and stuff, but I think it’d be so cool. Also people are so scared of it, but it’s kind of exciting. I think it would be a really fun addition.”

Aguilar is not even the first character in Reeves’ Batman world to be theorized to eventually be the Boy Wonder.

At the time of its release, fans speculated that The Batman already included a nod to who would become Robin, but that theory involved the orphaned son of Gotham City Mayor Don Mitchell rather than someone like Aguilar.

If Reeves and co. choose to introduce Robin in some way, there are plenty of candidates, and The Penguin‘s Aguilar is just one.

The Penguin continues on HBO and Max, with new episodes airing every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET.