Skip to main content

Paul Reubens will play The Penguin’s father on Gotham

Gotham actor Robin Lord Taylor has been one of the standouts of the Batman origin series in its first season, and now the man who plays The Penguin will have a familiar face join him in the series as his character’s father.

Taylor revealed during New York Comic Con that Paul “Pee-wee Herman” Reubens will play Oswald Cobblepot’s father on the hit series, and will be introduced in an upcoming episode of the show’s second season.

Recommended Videos

The casting is a return to the role for Reubens, who previously played The Penguin’s father in Tim Burton’s 1992 sequel Batman Returns. Taylor announced the casting news during Sunday’s Warner Bros. Television panel at NYCC.

“So we’re all familiar with Oswald’s mother, the fabulous, fabulous Carol Kane,” said the actor (as reported by EW). “We don’t know a lot about his father … We just found out that I do have a father. And he will be showing up very soon, and he will be played by none other than Paul Reubens, a.k.a. Pee-wee Herman! He’s playing my dad! What! The! Hell!”

Taylor later posted a promotional image on Twitter featuring his Gotham family.

https://twitter.com/robinlordtaylor/status/653321083907649536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Currently several episodes into its second season, Gotham follows police detective James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) as he attempts to fight the good fight in a city that is rapidly becoming a haven for criminals and villains. The series unfolds in the years before Bruce Wayne became Batman and chronicles the events that led to Gotham spawning its famous Dark Knight.

Along with Taylor and McKenzie, the FOX series stars Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock, Sean Pertwee as Alfred, Erin Richards as Barbara Kean, David Mazouz as Bruce Wayne, Camren Bicondova as Selina “Catwoman” Kyle, Cory Michael Smith as Edward “The Riddler” Nygma, James Frain as Theo Galavan, Jessica Lucas as Tabitha Galavan, Chris Chalk as Lucius Fox, Nicholas D’Agosto as Harvey Dent, and Zabryna Guevara as Captain Sarah Essen. The Shield actor Michael Chiklis also joined the cast this season as Captain Nathaniel Barnes.

During the panel, FOX also debuted a sizzle reel for the current season (embedded above) that features some of the highlights of the last few episodes. If you’re not caught up with the series, however, you might want to avoid the spoiler-filled recap.

Gotham airs Monday nights at 8:00pm ET on FOX.

Rick Marshall
A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…
Leave it to Jordan Peele to tackle the horrors of football in Him
Two men flex their muscles while standing next to each other.

Football runs America. The sport's overwhelming popularity drives conversation, television ratings, and exorbitant revenue. However, football has a dark side that many would rather avoid. Horror maestro Jordan Peele uses football as the subject of a new nightmare, Him.

Produced by Peele under his Monkeypaw Productions banner, Him asks the following question: What would you sacrifice to become the greatest of all time? After dazzling audiences at CinemaCon, Universal has publicly released the first teaser trailer for Him.

Read more
In honor of Superman Day, go behind the scenes of James Gunn’s DCU adventure
David Corenswet stands in his Superman costume and stares.

For James Gunn, the journey to Superman began as a young boy.

"Being a child, I loved the purity of Superman," Gunn said in a behind-the-scenes reel of Superman. "It was a time when I was starting to understand what movies were."

Read more
Rick Dalton’s return? Leo’s rumored offer for Once Upon A Time in Hollywood sequel
Leonardo DiCaprio puts his hands up while sitting next to Brad Pitt.

Earlier this month, reports of a Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood sequel at Netflix broke the internet. Luckily for cinephiles, the report was not an April Fool's Day joke. The trades later confirmed that David Fincher will direct the OUATIH follow-up from a screenplay by Quentin Tarantino, with Brad Pitt reprising his Oscar-winning role of Cliff Booth.

With Cliff back, the next logical question revolves around Rick Dalton. Would Leonardo DiCaprio return? DiCaprio has been in talks with Netflix for a potential return, which would likely be more of a cameo than a significant role.

Read more