A Sons Of Anarchy Star Is Joining DC
Theo Rossi has been cast in The Penguin, the HBO Max spin-off from The Batman, joining a short list of actors to be in both the MCU and the DCU.
When a show is as good as Sons of Anarchy, you know that the awesome stars will pop up in some unexpected places. For example, we loved seeing Charlie Hunnam trade his bike for a giant mech in the Pacific Rim movies. Now, Deadline reports that another of that show’s cast is popping up where you’d least expect them: Theo Rossi has been cast to star in The Penguin, the upcoming HBO Max series that continues to follow the misadventures of Colin Farrell’s Oswald Cobblepot.
We don’t yet know the exact role that Theo Rossi will be playing on The Penguin. For that matter, even the show’s name is just a working title at the moment, and it could change ahead of its release. The release date is similarly unknown, though industry experts are predicting it will drop early next year (that would help to keep this Matt Reeves franchise relevant to audiences ahead of the sequel movie, which is set to release on October 3, 2025).
However, while we might not know much about Theo Rossi’s role or The Penguin’s official title or release date, we know enough to get pretty excited over the whole thing. For example, Matt Reeves is the executive producer, so we expect the show to have the same tone and look as The Batman. And even though that movie and this show exist outside of the DCU being shaped by James Gunn, Reeves’ involvement echoes some of Gunn’s comments that he wants future DC televised content to be just as high-quality and just as star-studded as the movies (ending the long perception that things like CW’s televised DC adventures are less prestigious or meaningful than their big screen counterparts’).
We may not know Theo Rossi’s exact role in The Penguin, but since the show will follow Oswald Cobblepot consolidating control of his criminal empire in the wake of Carmine Falcone getting murdered, it’s a smart bet that Rossi will play some kind of criminal lieutenant working for the big boss. If so, Rossi should be a natural fit due to his previous experience starring in Luke Cage, the Netflix show that (like Daredevil and Jessica Jones) helped show us the darker side of Marvel’s onscreen universe. In Luke Cage, Rossi played Shades, a criminal who (you guessed it) always wore sunglasses and helped out major bad guys like Cottonmouth and Mariah Dillard, so we think he’ll be right at home helping out The Penguin in Gotham City.
Interestingly, once Theo Rossi stars in The Penguin, he will join a relatively exclusive (though slowly growing) list of actors who have starred in both DC and Marvel projects. This list includes big names, including Idris Elba, J.K. Simmons, Ryan Reynolds, Zachary Levi, and Michael Keaton. While those are some very big names, we do not doubt that Theo Rossi is similar to many of the criminal characters he portrays: he won’t stop until he’s one of the biggest names around, and we are so here for it.
