Batman is finally acknowledged in The Penguin finale, which suggests why the Dark Knight never intervened in Oz Cobb’s gang war. DC’s The Penguin takes place in a dark and forgotten corner of DC’s Gotham City, where innocent people like Rhenzy Feliz’s Victor Aguilar resort to a life of crime and hardened criminals like Oz Cobb and Sofia Falcone quench their thirst for power by killing everyone around them. Gotham neighborhoods like Crown Point are overlooked by the government, the police, and apparently, by Batman himself.

As expected, The Penguin episode 8 brings the conflict to an end on a tragic note, as Oz’s successful plan to have Sofia Gigante captured by the GCPD is overshadowed by Frances’ stroke. Oz refuses to accept that Frances will never recover, and takes her out of the hospital so she can live the rest of her life with him. Oz also decides to kill Victor Aguilar, arguing that keeping loved ones close to him only brings pain to his life. Although he doesn’t realize it yet, things will likely get even worse for Oz, as the Bat Signal appears in the sky as soon as he finds a moment of peace with his mother.

Why Batman Isn’t In The Penguin

Batman Is Busy With Other Forms Of Crime In Gotham

Custom image by Felipe Rangel

Barring the implications of the Bat Signal at the end of The Penguin episode 8, Batman is completely absent throughout The Penguin. In most DC continuities, Batman is unable to watch over the entirety of Gotham, and Gotham is such a crime-ridden city that not even the whole Bat-Family can keep up with it. In Matt Reeves’ The Batman universe, Batman is still in his early years as a vigilante, and he’s likely regrouping from the Riddler’s terrorist attack while he fights crime and plans out a better way to help Gotham.

There’s still a power vacuum in the Gotham underworld after the events of The Penguin episode 8.

Above all, most of Oz and Sofia’s conflict in The Penguin happens in secret. It’s only until Sofia kills the Falcone family and blows up Oz’s hideout that the conflict attracts the public eye. The Penguin showrunner Lauren LeFranc explained to Screen Rant that The Penguin is written in a way that Batman’s absence isn’t distracting. As intense as they are, events like Alberto Falcone’s murder and the Maroni family’s deaths are bound to fly under Batman’s radar, at least until they snowball into bigger tragedies for Gotham.

The Penguin’s Final Shot Of The Bat Signal Explained

The Penguin’s Battle With Sofia Gigante May Have Finally Called Batman’s Attention

The only clear sign of Batman’s existence in The Penguin comes in the form of the Bat Signal at the end of episode 8. While the Bat Signal appears in the sky with no further context, it’s possible that James Gordon has invoked Batman in order to launch an independent investigation into the underground explosion at Crown Point, which could lead them to discover the origin of the Bliss drug, Oz and Sofia’s crime war, and the recent shake-up in Gotham’s crime hierarchy. This would mean that Batman will soon cross paths with Oz again soon.

The Bat Signal could indicate that The Batman – Part I I ‘s main antagonist has already made themselves known

Another face-off between Batman and the Penguin is inevitable in Matt Reeves’ upcoming The Batman – Part II, but the Bat Signal in The Penguin finale could also have a different meaning. The Penguin episode 8 takes place about a month after the events of The Batman. At this point, the Dark Knight may already have discovered a new threat to Gotham as dangerous as the Riddler. Then, the Bat Signal could indicate that The Batman – Part I I‘s main antagonist has already made themselves known.

Batman’s Justice For Gotham Has A Dangerous Blindspot

Organized Crime Is A Breeding Ground For Dangerous Criminals

 

The Falcones and the Maronis maintained their operations as normal before and after the Riddler’s attack in The Batman, which suggests that the Dark Knight didn’t dare to dismantle Gotham’s crime families. Batman may have decided that attempting to eliminate Gotham’s organized crime would have resulted in unnecessary collateral damage. However, by allowing Gotham’s gangs to self-govern, Batman has allowed drugs to take over the city, with all the secondary and tertiary side effects that drug trafficking entails.

As suggested by The Batman‘s opening action scenes, Batman used to spend his nights beating up low-level criminals — ignoring that the only way to reduce Gotham’s crime effectively is to eradicate it from the root. The Penguin shows how organized crime pushes all kinds of people to their limit and brings out their darkest side. After the Riddler’s terrorist attack helped Batman change his mindset from seeking revenge to spreading hope, perhaps the Dark Knight realized that he needs a different approach to crime-fighting in order to save Gotham.