The following story contains spoilers for The Penguin episode 7, “Top Hat.”
IF THERE’S ONE thing we know about the Matt Reeves universe of The Batman, it’s that everything we’re seeing exists with purpose.The Batman gave us an epic glimpse into Gotham City in the early days of Bruce Wayne’s run as Batman, and now The Penguin is giving us an even lengthier glimpse into the character and ambition of the villain Oz Cobb, known perjoratively by many as The Penguin.
It was clear from The Batman that Oz (Colin Farrell) was an ambitious, dangerous, scumbag. But why is he the way he is? And what would he do to get what he wants, and get what would benefit him the most? That, really, is at the core of The Penguin, and, in episode 7, “Top Hat,” we finally get to see a flashback to Oz’s childhood. In this flashback, we get as clear a glimpse into the events and environment that shaped him into the figure he would eventually become—and that centers on a local Gotham City gangster named Rex Calabrese.
Oz idolizes Rex Calabrese. If Oz was a little kid his whole life, he would have a Rex Calabrese poster on his wall. In our flashback scene, we see a young Oz jealous of the love his mom has for his brothers, jealous of his brother’s relationship with Rex (one his brother does not seem particularly psyched about), and himself, even as a kid, desperate to associate with Rex, the neighborhood gangster. And so it becomes clear that all along Oz was going to do what it took to become just like his idol. This isn’t a situation where a kid wants to be like LeBron James, but doesn’t grow to 6’9” and has to abandon the dream; Oz has always had the means to be like Rex, and in The Penguin, we’ve been seeing just how he tries to do it.
Clearly, there’s more to Rex’s story than just what we got in “Top Hat.” But The Penguin is playing it slow. So, for now, here’s what you should know about Rex Calabrese—and Louis Cancelmi, the wonderful actor who plays him.
So who exactly is Rex Calabrese in The Penguin? Does he have a DC Comics origin?
Rex Calabrese’s role in The Penguin is a small but absolutely vital one. In the opening sequence of the show—back in the first episode, “After Hours”—you may recall Oz thinking back to his childhood as he told Alberto Falcone (Michael Zegen) about his hero. Rex Calabrese, he says, was a local gangster who everyone loved; he helped people out in a pinch, he remembered everyone’s name, and he was an overall beloved guy. They even threw a parade in his honor when he died, he says. When Alberto laughs at the idea of being compared to a small-time crook from Oz’s childhood, Oz takes it to heart, impulsively shooting him several times, and setting the events of the series into motion. In short? Do not mess around with Oz’s hero.
But even in just a short flashback scene in “Top Hat,” we see that Oz’s memory may have been a bit checkered. Oz has a fraught relationship at home; he loves his mom and the attention she gives him (as we’ve seen in the present), but he looks on with nothing but disdain when she gives the same to his brothers, Jack and Benny. Jack, the older one, also has some kind of relationship with Rex; when the brothers walk by, Oz looks at him like a local celebrity, and when Jack goes to collect $50 for some recreation, Oz is clearly jealous. He even tries to tell Rex ‘Hello,’ but Jack tells him bluntly to stay away.
Oz eventually leaves his brothers to die (they would eventually drown in a rainstorm) in the same tunnels where he now runs his drug operation, part of which clearly must have been inspired by the ‘do anything’ persona he perceives in Rex. Also, by him being a sociopath his entire life. There’s that too. Rex will figure further into Oz’s story with certainty.
Rex isn’t a longtime DC/Batman comics gangster like Carmine Falcone or Sal Maroni, but he’s an interesting figure who was introduced in the 2011-born New 52 universe of DC Comics. Rex was actually first introduced in September 2014’s Batman Eternal #14, where he had somewhat of a similar backstory to the Rex we saw in The Penguin: he was a big time local gangster in Gotham City prior to the existence of Batman or any kind of local vigilante crime fighter.
Rex was eventually pushed out of his crime empire by Carmine Falcone, who himself was then replaced by, you guessed it: The Penguin. It’s an interesting battle for crime supremacy in the New 52 Gotham City.
One interesting thing about Rex, though, is that in this Batman continuity, he’s actually the one who’s the secret father of Selina Kyle, and not Carmine, as depicted in The Batman. However, in that storyline, the two eventually reconnect and he pushes her toward making her own play toward running Gotham’s criminal underworld.
Rex Calabrese is played by Louis Cancelmi in The Penguin
While Louis Cancelmi, 46, has been acting collecting screen credits since the early 2000s, he’s hit a particular sweet spot in the last 5-10 years with his notable roles in major films and television.
Perhaps most notably, he’s figured prominently in Martin Scorsese’s two most recent films, The Irishman and Killers of the Flower Moon; in both movies, he played prominent criminals. In The Irishman, he played Sally Bugs, an infamous mafia hitman, and in Killers of the Flower Moon, he played Kelsie Morrison, a dim-witted accomplice in the murders of the Osage people at the center of the center of the film. Scorsese clearly enjoys working with him, and for good reason—he’s fantastic in both films. Association with these movies and characters is a big reason as to why his casting and role in The Penguin feels so natural.
Cancelmi has also played major roles in TV shows you’ve likely seen—he figured in as an undercover FBI agent with Al Capone’s operation in season 5 of Boardwalk Empire, and was a key supporting character in Billions for essentially its entire run. Last year, he was also part of the main cast in FX’s mystery series A Murder at the End of the World.
You’ll be able to see him next in In The Hand of Dante, which stars Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, and Gal Gadot, and is co-written by The Diving Bell and the Butterfly filmmaker Julian Schnabel (and executive produced by Scorsese); he’ll also appear alongside David Oyelowo in the upcoming Apple TV+ series Government Cheese.
