‘The Penguin’ Season 2 Just Got Bumped a Full Year, and the New WGA Listing Reveals Why

Fans tracking ‘The Penguin‘ Season 2 have a fresh piece of the puzzle to chew on. Reports flagged an update to the show’s Writers Guild of America listing, showing the previously listed 2025 to 2026 production window has now shifted to 2026 through 2027, with Lauren LeFranc still attached as showrunner and executive producer and Semi Chellas remaining on as consulting producer.

The original WGA entry for Season 2 first surfaced back in early May, and it was treated as one of the strongest signals yet that Colin Farrell’s Oz Cobb story was continuing. Because only a writer or production member within the WGA can edit and approve listings on the site, the update was considered a far more credible indicator of active development than an unverified entry on a site like IMDb.

Lauren LeFranc held the showrunner role throughout the acclaimed first season, which earned her a WGA Award for Best Limited Series alongside the show itself. Joining her on the new season is Semi Chellas, who co-wrote multiple Emmy-nominated episodes of ‘Mad Men’ and shared a Writers Guild Award with creator Matthew Weiner during her time on that series.

The shifted timeline lines up with what has long been assumed about how this season would actually come together. Many industry watchers have argued the show’s sophomore run should be held until after ‘The Batman Part II’ releases, to avoid confusion and let the film’s momentum carry over into the series.

That film is currently set to open on October 1, 2027, with Matt Reeves recently sharing camera test footage that has fans speculating about a snowier, more wintry Gotham this time around.

HBO has stayed publicly cautious even as the paperwork moves forward. Executive producer Dylan Clark previously told outlets that quiet conversations about a second season were underway, and that HBO programming chief Casey Bloys and his team would likely pursue it if the creative team landed on a strong enough idea.

Colin Farrell has echoed that sentiment himself, saying he would return if Reeves, Clark, and LeFranc came up with an idea for a second season that was strong enough to compel everyone to keep exploring Oz’s character.

Story-wise, there is no shortage of threads left dangling from season one. The first season ended with Sofia Falcone imprisoned and Oz’s psychological grip on Gotham firmly established, leaving plenty of room for the writers to dig into how his power consolidates from here. Farrell is expected to reprise Oz Cobb in ‘The Batman Part II’ as well, which only adds to the puzzle of how the film and series will eventually intersect on a shared timeline.

Nothing here amounts to an official season two announcement from HBO or DC Studios just yet, but a formal WGA date range shifting forward by a full year is a meaningful signal that production planning is getting more concrete. With ‘The Batman Part II’ now moving into production, fans may finally be looking at a realistic runway for Oz Cobb’s next chapter to take shape.

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