THE PENGUIN Director On "Oz Cobb" Name Change And Possible Court Of Owls Connection

The Penguin director and EP Craig Zobel has explained the reasoning for changing the title character's real name to Oz Cobb, while also addressing Court of Owls fan theories...

By MarkCassidy - Sep 18, 2024 08:09 AM EST

Filed Under: The Batman

The Penguin is set to premiere on the Max streaming service tomorrow, and while there is a lot of excitement for the show, some fans are not on board with the decision to change the title character's real name from Oswald Cobblepot to Oswald "Oz" Cobb.

This may not seem like a huge deal, but it is viewed as an unnecessary change, and many feel that it demonstrates an unwillingness to embrace the fact that this series is based on a comic book - even if it is a more "grounded" take.

The Hollywood Handle asked director/EP Craig Zobel about the change, while also bringing up a fan theory that "Cobb" might signify some connection to Court of Owls assassin William Cobb.

“I can’t 100% answer that because I don’t know everything in Matt Reeves’ mind, but largely, we all kinda felt like Cobblepot wasn’t a real person’s name. The goal was to just find a real, rooted, more grounded name.”

Cobblepot is certainly an odd name, but it's not on the same level as something like Edward Nygma, which was - more understandably - changed to Edward Nashton for The Batman movie.

What do you make of this change? Check out the video interview below, and let us know in the comment section.

‘THE PENGUIN’ director/executive Craig Zobel discusses why Oswald Cobblepot's name is shortened and the speculated connection to the Court of Owls. pic.twitter.com/p4XtgZ3jJf
— The Hollywood Handle (@HollywoodHandle) September 18, 2024

The Penguin also stars Cristin Milioti (Sofia Falcone), Rhenzy Feliz (Victor Aguilar), Michael Kelly (Johnny Viti), Shohreh Aghdashloo (Nadia Maroni), Deirdre O’Connell (Francis Cobb), Clancy Brown (Salvatore Maroni), James Madio (Milos Grapa), Scott Cohen (Luca Falcone), Michael Zegen (Alberto Falcone), Carmen Ejogo (Eve Karlo), and Theo Rossi (Dr. Julian Rush).

The eight-episode DC Studios drama series continues The Batman epic crime saga that filmmaker Matt Reeves began with Warner Bros. Pictures’ global blockbuster The Batman, and centers on the character played by Farrell in the film.

The series is executive produced by Matt Reeves, Dylan Clark, Colin Farrell, Lauren LeFranc, who writes and serves as showrunner, Craig Zobel, who directs the first three episodes, and Bill Carraro. Based on characters created for DC by Bob Kane with Bill Finger, the show is produced by Reeves’ 6th & Idaho Productions and Dylan Clark Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, where Reeves and 6th & Idaho are under an overall deal. Daniel Pipski also serves as executive producer.

THE PENGUIN Showrunner Explains Why Mark Strong Replaces John Turturro As Carmine Falcone

Recommended For You:

THE PENGUIN Actress Carmen Ejogo On Her Character's Possible Connection To Clayface

DISCLAIMER: ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and... [MORE]

ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.

Do you have what it takes to write for us?

Want to contribute?

59 Comments

1 2

IAmAHoot - 9/18/2024, 8:58 AM

Are people really in a fervor over the name?

FireandBlood - 9/18/2024, 9:10 AM

@IAmAHoot - Yeah, because 1. Oswald Cobblepot very much sounds like a real name and 2. “Oz Cobb” doesn’t.

IAmAHoot - 9/18/2024, 9:16 AM

@FireandBlood - Why, just cause you've heard it for years instead of this new one? And he just explained they switched Cobblepot to Cobb, which is a more common real last name at any rate; and "Oz" is probably still short for Oswald.

FireandBlood - 9/18/2024, 9:17 AM

@IAmAHoot - And his reasoning is lame. If they’re ashamed of the character this much, they’ve got no business adapting him. Pick a character whose name doesn’t embarrass you.

lazlodaytona - 9/18/2024, 9:19 AM

@IAmAHoot - @FireandBlood is correct. I hate the change because it's so unnecessary...even if it's connected to the Court of Owls.

IAmAHoot - 9/18/2024, 9:19 AM

@FireandBlood - Ashamed? They made a show about him.

FireandBlood - 9/18/2024, 9:24 AM

@IAmAHoot - Did they, though?

regularmovieguy - 9/18/2024, 9:27 AM

@IAmAHoot

It’s honestly not a big deal. Riddler’s name in The Batman was Edward Nashton and nobody cared at all.

IAmAHoot - 9/18/2024, 9:28 AM

@FireandBlood - Well then be strong, boycott, and don't watch it. Show 'em they f***ed up big time.

FireandBlood - 9/18/2024, 9:55 AM

@IAmAHoot - It’ll never be that deep, but let’s stop defending stupidity. The show might be good, this even might be a great take on the Penguin, but their excuse for changing his name is just plain, old stupid.

The1st - 9/18/2024, 10:02 AM

@regularmovieguy - They didn't change Riddler's name though, they just went with his actual name. Nygma is a pseudonym...cuz Riddler and comes from the New Earth continuity.

The1st - 9/18/2024, 10:05 AM

@regularmovieguy - They didn't change Riddler's name though, technically, they just went with his actual name. Nigma was a pseudonym in that case...cuz Riddler, and that version comes from the New Earth continuity.

IAmAHoot - 9/18/2024, 10:13 AM

@FireandBlood - If you say so. But have you ever heard of anyone named Cobblepot other than The Penguin? Quick Google search on "last name Cobblepot" yields nothing but Batman-related links in regards to the villain and a couple of articles discussing the real-life surname (and they do explain how uncommon it is), whereas a quick Google search on "last name Cobb" yields mmediate and countless info about the origins, history, and meanings of said surname. So I'm not sure how stupid their excuse is, according to you...

FireandBlood - 9/18/2024, 10:20 AM

@The1st - Nygma is his real name. That was a retcon that’s since been retconned.

regularmovieguy - 9/18/2024, 10:22 AM

@The1st

That’s my mistake. I’m not super familiar with his origins I just assumed his name was Ed Nygma, lol.

FireandBlood - 9/18/2024, 10:23 AM

@IAmAHoot - Because they’re making a spinoff show about a man in a bulletproof Batsuit that jumps of buildings and calls himself Batman, but they drew the line at Oswald and Cobblepot, just to change his name into “Oz Cobb” which, quite frankly, sounds like a dish at a funky restaurant.

Not only is it stupid, it’s pretentious as hell. If you’re ashamed of a characters name, stay away from the character.

FireandBlood - 9/18/2024, 10:25 AM

@regularmovieguy - It is. Nygma changing his name was a retcon that went unnoticed and was then subsequently retconned to have never happened.

IAmAHoot - 9/18/2024, 10:36 AM

@FireandBlood - Just gonna say it, but you're the one sounding pretentious about all this.

Clintthahamster - 9/18/2024, 10:36 AM

@FireandBlood - "they drew the line at Oswald and Cobblepot"

Cobblepot, yes. The article says that the character is named Oswald "Oz" Cobb. I agree that Oz Cobb sounds stupid, but, honestly, not as stupid as Oswald Cobblepot.

EgoEgor - 9/18/2024, 3:07 PM

@IAmAHoot - come on, man. What's pretentious is them trying so hard to ground something by changing a [frick]ing name for the sake of it. "It's not a REAL name", yeah no shit, Mr Reeves. Their making a movie about a guy who dresses up like bat to fight crime, not [frick]ing shawshank redemption. Nobody would say " hey I draw the line at cobblepot", probably because it's 2024 and people have dumber names in real life.

I'm not in fervor over the name, if they said "it's not an Italian name, we wanted to make him italian", I'd be ok with that's a creative reason for the change. But this is "hey, look the comic character is silly"; I just think it makes them look like they have their heads up their talented assess.

IAmAHoot - 9/18/2024, 3:44 PM

@EgoEgor - Did it bother you that they changed his appearance too?

The1st - 9/18/2024, 4:13 PM

@FireandBlood - Yes. That's why I said New Earth continuity. It's always been Nygma.

The1st - 9/18/2024, 4:16 PM

@regularmovieguy - No worries. For all intents and purposes it is and always has been. They just chose to adapt one of his names from the comics.

EgoEgor - 9/18/2024, 5:29 PM

@IAmAHoot - it's like you're just talking without understanding my gripe. I have no problem with creative interpretations, but changing a name of a character you're adapting because you want to have the illusion that it's more grounded is very pretentious considering this is a Batman movie. This is just pretentious. Comes of as "Cobblepot is too silly of name for our movie about an emo guy who dresses up like bat to fight crime".

IAmAHoot - 9/18/2024, 5:39 PM

@EgoEgor - How much did his name bother you while you were watching The Batman? You’re complaining about a fiction, a limited run on the Batman story, where you want an Italian mob figure to be named Cobblepot, a name which was meant to go with character’s particularly creative design.

Malatrova15 - 9/18/2024, 9:01 AM

Oz Cobb is an enemy of Bru Way .an ally of Har Lee and be careful of Upa Man .
Fr no cap bro
Glad DC is up with the youngsters like Biden

IAmAHoot - 9/18/2024, 9:03 AM

P.S. Riddler's name was changed to Nashton in the Zero Year storyline, so that wasn't a change Reeves made.

FireandBlood - 9/18/2024, 9:09 AM

@IAmAHoot - Nope, that retcon happened before and was thrown out with Zero Year where his name was restored to Nygma.

IAmAHoot - 9/18/2024, 9:12 AM

@FireandBlood - Alright, well the name was already established still then.

lazlodaytona - 9/18/2024, 9:21 AM

@IAmAHoot - Did that storyline also make Riddler look nothing like he has for decades? He looked like a mummy wrapped in electrical tape.

IAmAHoot - 9/18/2024, 9:27 AM

@lazlodaytona - And? I didn't like the Riddler's design. It was fine for the movie, but it was terribly dull where the villains should be as cool to behold as Batman. It was distinct and unique though, so I'll give credit for that.

EgoEgor - 9/18/2024, 6:03 PM

@IAmAHoot - - a name change doesn't bother me, man. Once again, you're confusing my gripe. Cobb is about as english as Cobblepot. It is literally just cutting up the name, it's not even creative. The problem I have is the pretentious notion of "grounding" a name in a [frick]ing Batman movie. If they called him Oswald Corleone, I wouldn't care because it's not a change that's looking down on the character but an actual creative interpretation, and not them trying to make it "grounded".

But yet it's a Batman movie, the same grounded Batman movie where he can survive hitting a metal beam going 40 mph. Creative and pretentious are different things to me, and this is just a pretentious change to me because they think the character name is silly; but it's a [frick]ing Batman movie, no matter how dark or brooding, the concept is silly by its very nature.

IAmAHoot - 9/18/2024, 6:08 PM

@EgoEgor - If it's all so silly why are you taking it this seriouly? And again how much did his name bother you while watching The Batman?

EgoEgor - 9/18/2024, 6:15 PM

@IAmAHoot - ok, so you just wanna talk in twitter "gotcha" language rather than actually engage as to why people don't like this. Even phrasing things like "fervor", they made changes and people are as free not to like as you are free to be open to it.

I watched and enjoyed the first film. I'll watch the second film, but I'm call em out if I think they're being pretentious.

IAmAHoot - 9/18/2024, 6:23 PM

@EgoEgor - And you just want to disregard that I disagre with your reasoning/logic. And clearly based on this conversation, by definion, you seem to be in a fervor over this.

EgoEgor - 9/18/2024, 6:44 PM

@IAmAHoot - you disagree, the only doing any disregarding is you. I don't like this because i think it's pretentious, but I guess liking something or thinking it's pretentious is considered "fervor" to you. You asked why people don't like this, even framing the question with "fervor", I gave you my reasons. I'm gonna go see this film, I'm looking forward but I'm not gonna suck it off.

IAmAHoot - 9/18/2024, 6:56 PM

@EgoEgor - The f word you don't like is because of how you're engaging in the conversation, not just your opinion.

EgoEgor - 9/18/2024, 7:22 PM

@IAmAHoot - That's your interpretation. I guess thats just the lingo of this place rubbing off on me. I have no fervor for this, I just dont like, i think it's pretentious AF. Still gonna see it, still looking forward to it. But I'm gonna be honest about it.

When they say things like "The goal was to just find a real, rooted, more grounded name.” in a movie about a vigilante that dresses up like a Bat to fight crime, set in a fictional city called Gotham, facing off against characters called The Riddle ofr The Joker... I just think it comes off pretentious to me. But hey, we're all free feel different, and thinks it's unfair to label criticism as fervor or frame them as unwarranted. So we'll just agree to disagree.

FireandBlood - 9/18/2024, 9:06 AM

What a lame, creatively bankrupt excuse 👎

JustAWaffle - 9/18/2024, 9:10 AM

1 2

Please log in to post comments.

Don't have an account?
Please Register.

THE PENGUIN Director On "Oz Cobb" Name Change And Possible Court Of Owls Connection

The Penguin director and EP Craig Zobel has explained the reasoning for changing the title character's real name to Oz Cobb, while also addressing Court of Owls fan theories...

THE PENGUIN Showrunner Explains Why Mark Strong Replaces John Turturro As Carmine Falcone

THE PENGUIN Actress Carmen Ejogo On Her Character's Possible Connection To Clayface

THE PENGUIN Showrunner Explains Why Mark Strong Replaces John Turturro As Carmine Falcone

THE PENGUIN Actress Carmen Ejogo On Her Character's Possible Connection To Clayface