'The Batman' director Matt Reeves explains why Robert Pattinson isn't in 'The Penguin'

• "The Penguin" picks up shortly after the events of "The Batman."
• It follows Oz Cobb (Colin Farrell) as he tries to become a new major mob boss in Gotham City.

"The Penguin" is the second project set within Matt Reeves' grim, violent take on the DC universe, following 2022's "The Batman" which starred Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne and Batman.

The film established that Gotham's police force and the city council are corrupt, which is why the Riddler (Paul Dano) targeted those in power.

By the end of the film, Batman discovered that some of the city's most influential figures were being controlled by a notorious gangster, Carmine Falcone (John Turturro).

The Riddler assassinated Falcone to prove that crime doesn't always pay, but in doing so, created a power vacuum in the criminal underbelly. In "The Penguin," various gangsters, including Oz Cobb (Colin Farrell), want to seize the Falcone empire for themselves.

This version of Batman is much more grounded than other recent adaptations of the character, and he's much more focused on dealing with organized crime rather than larger-than-life supervillains or teaming up with other heroes.

So it would be fair to assume that Pattinson might step back into the batsuit for a cameo in "The Penguin."

But in September, Reeves told Total Film that he decided against having Pattinson return as Batman in the series.

"To explore the rogues gallery, they could never get the real estate we can do in a series. So Batman is in this only as a sense that he's a presence. You're aware that all of these events began because of the Riddler, but the Riddler doesn't appear and Batman doesn't appear." he said.

He added: "Rob is not going to be in the show. I'd rather take the Band-Aid off now. We did talk about all that but we felt the best way to do this was to go on a grand exploration of a guy grabbing for power in this moment."