When 'The Penguin' takes place in 'The Batman' timeline explained

• HBO's "The Penguin" is set in the same world as Matt Reeves' "The Batman."
• It follows Oz Cobb (Colin Farrell) as he tries to fill a void in Gotham's criminal underworld.

In HBO's latest crime drama "The Penguin," Oz Cobb (Colin Farrell) attempts to fill the void in Gotham City's criminal underworld left by the assassination of mob boss Carmine Falcone (John Turturro) in "The Batman."

The ambitious gangster attempts to build his own criminal empire out of the mess Falcone leaves behind when he is outed as a high-level informant to the authorities. The show expands on the various criminal factions in Gotham that were introduced in the 2021 movie directed by Matt Reeves.

When speaking to SFX magazine (per Variety) Reeves said the TV series is the "entry point" into "The Batman 2," which starts filming in 2025 and will be released in 2026.

"There are details that actually connect right into the way the next movie begins, and the way that Oz enters that world as we hand the baton back to Batman, and Batman is on another case," the director said.

'The Penguin' takes place one week after the events of 'The Batman.'

The 2022 movie starts on Halloween when the Riddler (Paul Dano) kills his first victim, Mayor Don Mitchell Jr. (Rupert Penry-Jones), in his war on corruption within the city council. When Batman (Robert Pattinson) starts investigating, it takes him almost a week to uncover what the villain has planned for the city.

The film's climax takes place on November 5, as the Riddler detonates a series of bombs around the city on Gotham's sea wall, which floods it. Batman spends most of the night battling the villain's goons, who attack civilians in the Gotham Square Garden arena.

The following morning, on November 6, the Batman helps the authorities evacuate the survivors of the incident from the area while Cobb looks out across the ruined city from Falcone's private lounge.

In the first episode of "The Penguin," Cobb starts making his move on the Falcone empire when he shoots and kills Carmine's son, Alberto Falcone (Michael Zegen). At his funeral, his death is listed as November 13, 2022.

This means that "The Penguin" takes place in the immediate aftermath of "The Batman," and it'll explore how the events of the film drastically changed Gotham and its inhabitants.