Batman: Caped Crusader has revealed a huge twist to a classic villain, as Prime Video’s animated series gender-swaps the Penguin. As revealed during the Saturday SDCC panel for the upcoming series, Minnie Driver will be voicing Oswalda Cobblepot in a twist on the character that no one saw coming and fans have certainly got plenty to say about.

Driver’s take on the Penguin was revealed during the world premiere of the first episode of the series, and Driver was there in person for a follow-up panel. That panel also included executive producer and The Batman director Matt Reeves, Hamish Linklater who plays Batman, and Jamie Chung who voices Harley Quinn.

Batman: Caped Crusader (2024) An animated reimagining of the Batman mythology.Release Date August 1, 2024 Seasons 1 Studio 6th & Idaho Productions, Bad Robot, DC Entertainment Franchise DC Expand

Speaking about the controversy that will surely follow the decision to gender-swap Osawld Cobblepot, Driver has no issues playing the role differently, as she believes it still brings the full essence of the Penguin to the series. As per Variety, she said:

“If we’re lucky enough to be invited onto the stage to inhabit these characters that already exist in the ether, we just sort of rise up to meet them. And this was such a beautiful retelling of that villain. It was joyful. And, I mean, she’s dreadful.”

It was also revealed by Reeves that Season 2 of the show is currently in development, suggesting that there is plenty more to come from this particular iteration of the DC hero.

Batman: Caped Crusader has been in production for a long time, and the revelation of the Penguin’s new appearance hasn’t gone down well with some, who were quick to share their displeasure on X/Twitter. As soon as the first images of Driver’s animated take on Oswalda arrived online, the comments flowed in on the back of it.

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However, in the grand scheme of things, the noise about this change to the long-standing Gotham villain was not enough to drown out the praise being heaped on the show by those watching its premiere first hand. With praise for the voice cast, direction and the gritty feel of the debut episode, it looks like concerns over the changes made to the Penguin are being lost in the flood. Here are just some of the comments made about the series.

Batman: Caped Crusader
will debut on Prime Video on August 1.