The final shot of The Penguin is misleading and doesn’t necessarily signal what everyone first expected. After eight episodes, The Penguin has established itself as one of DC’s best productions following on from the events of The Batman and preceding the release of The Batman – Part II. While very little information has been revealed about the latter, several substantial developments in The Penguin have set up Matt Reeves’ gritty sequel. This includes the titular villain finally bestowing the Batman mantle on Bruce Wayne, who had previously simply gone by “Vengeance.”

So much has happened throughout those eight episodes that it will be impossible for The Batman – Part II to ignore. One such development is Batman’s conspicuous absence from the series despite all the tumult caused by Penguin and the gang war that has been unfolding in Gotham. This absence was seemingly addressed with the final shot of The Penguin‘s finale, which may be a cause of some confusion as it hints at something that isn’t necessarily the case.

The Penguin Ended With The Bat Signal Shining

It Could Be Seen As Oz Cobb Celebrated His Victory Over Gotham’s Underworld

Oz Cobb’s plan finally comes together at the end of The Penguin, cementing himself as the prime kingpin of Gotham after successfully removing all other gang leaders from the equation while working in cahoots with Councilman Hady. The lead-up to this moment involved a litany of earth-shattering events – quite literally so in the case of Sofia Falcone’s bomb – that should have caught the attention of Gotham’s foremost vigilante. It should come as no surprise, then, that the Bat-Signal finally lit up in the skies of Gotham in the final shot of the series.

Instead, it seems as though the Caped Crusader has been taking a holiday during these events – and the Bat-Signal lighting up doesn’t necessarily mean otherwise.

The question of Batman’s whereabouts throughout The Penguin has been hanging over the entire series. While the Penguin and other gang leaders were relatively surreptitious around the start of the show, the crescendo that saw several deaths, the escape of a high-profile convict, and an explosion that tore a hole in the center of Gotham should have been sufficient in perking the ears of the newly-anointed Batman. Instead, it seems as though the Caped Crusader has been taking a holiday during these events – and the Bat-Signal lighting up doesn’t necessarily mean otherwise.

Why The Bat Signal Isn’t Confirmation That Batman Is Still Active In Gotham

Too Much Has Happened For Batman To Have Ignored It

It’s hard to reconcile the notion that Batman will position himself front and center when one masked criminal embarks on a killing spree with his absence after an explosion shook the city. Sofia’s attack in The Penguin episode 7 caused many to believe that Pattinson’s Batman would at least make a cameo appearance in the subsequent finale, but this did not transpire. Instead, the Bat-Signal was the closest we got to seeing Batman get involved – but that doesn’t mean he’s around to see it.

It’s more explicable to consider that Batman is simply AWOL or otherwise indisposed throughout The Penguin. While the Bat-Signal typically precedes his arrival as a summoning device, it isn’t operated by him and can therefore be lit up even when he’s not around. The Batman even established that it is used as a tool to instill fear in Gotham’s underworld, which would admittedly have been more useful to deploy a few episodes before the finale.

Alternatively, there is every chance the Bat-Signal is being used out of fear and desperation. The denizens of Gotham will be even more shaken following yet another explosion in the immediate aftermath of the Riddler’s, and Batman’s newly adopted role as a beacon of hope may be all that they feel they can cling to. As for why Batman will be absent, he may also be ruminating over the Riddler’s actions and his involvement in the plan.

How The Penguin Showrunners Defended Batman’s Absence

Showrunners Wanted To Keep All Focus On Penguin Without Batman Stealing The Limelight

Showrunners addressed Batman’s absence in The Penguin relatively early on and, in a nutshell, championed the reasoning that The Penguin was focused on spotlighting other characters. In her interview with Screen Rant in September, showrunner Lauren LeFranc said about making a show devoid of Batman:

“I think the most important thing to me was to make sure that our characters are worth watching on their own, that the stories that we’re telling are engaging enough that you don’t miss The Batman and that you stop thinking about him.”

Matt Reeves, meanwhile, was interviewed by Total Film around the same time, where he asserted:

“To explore the rogues gallery, they could never get the real estate we can do in a series. So Batman is in this only as a sense that he’s a presence. You’re aware that all of these events began because of the Riddler, but the Riddler doesn’t appear and Batman doesn’t appear.”

in a nutshell, it seems that the showrunners were keen to ensure Batman, no matter how small his role, did not steal the limelight away from Penguin and his co-stars.

It’s hard to argue with their reasoning. Three weeks after the finale aired, the positive reactions seem to suggest that his absence hasn’t exactly hurt the series either. Nevertheless, Batman’s absence in The Penguin is conspicuous enough to warrant an explanation in The Batman – Part II. This shouldn’t be too difficult for Reeves, but to brush it under the rug would do a disservice to Batman and his typically expeditious response to crime as it happens on the streets of Gotham.