Summary
The Penguinis just getting started with its first season run and has already seen success with its linear TV debut on HBO, but its second wind on the Max streaming platform has given the show an impressive leg up over another high-profile show that took the same route.
The Penguinis the one spin-off from Matt Reeves’ 2022 blockbusterThe Batmanthat made it through the Warner Bros. Discovery machine to get into production and finally make its way to audiences. Taking on all the disparate ideas from the spinoffs that didn’t work out, the show would come out the other end a much stronger project, leading to it being upgraded from a streaming exclusive project to getting approved to air on HBO. From early looks, many thought thatThe Penguincould be a catalyst for superhero mediato broaden its horizons due to its clear crime drama DNA blended with the grounded comic book feel that it retained fromThe Batman. This potential would seemingly pay off when the show debuted to critical and fan acclaim.
The PenguinPremiere vs.House of the DragonPremiere
The PenguinWatched By Almost Half a Million More Viewers
WhileColin Farrell went through a lot during the production ofThe Penguin,the show’s first outing on streaming seems to indicate that the harrowing experience of crafting and embodying the character was well worth it. In a recent report byTheWrap, it was highlighted that the premiere episode ofThe Penguinlogged views from an impressive 3.2 million households over its first four-day period on the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned streaming platform. Notably, this exceeds the welcome thatHouse of the Dragon,another major franchise spin-off that debuted on the same platform in 2022, garnered in the same time frame.House of the Dragon, which has a groundswell of support from fans of its parent series,Game of Thrones,only managed to hit 2.8 million households over the first four days.
The comparison between the two shows is pretty interesting, asHouse of the Dragontook a similar path to audiences by being approved for both linear viewing on HBO and released for streaming on Max. While the show had an amazing first season run and got renewed on the strength of its premiere, fans will know that things aren’t quite so rosy anymore. To the surprise of many viewers who experienced the fairly well-received start to the second installment,House of the Dragon’sseason 2 finale fell short of expectations for aGame of Thronesuniverse installment, receiving a lot of criticism from all sides of the discussion and garnering a score from fans and critics almost as low as the widely disliked ending to the originalGame of Thronesseries.
There’s a lot to be said forHouse of the Dragontaking on flak in the same way thatGame of Thronesdid at the end of its run, but its problems actually make the new contender look better. WhileThe Penguingetting greenlit for linear viewing on HBO, in addition to the original plan to develop it for streaming on Max, was a good sign for the show overall, it doesn’t follow that this dual release would have a positive impact on streaming numbers. Furthermore,Game of Throneswas on air and in public discussion for eight years straight, whileThe Batmanwas released in 2022 as a one-off project with no follow-up yet, save forThe Penguinitself. Even taking into account the time that elapsed between the end ofGame of Thronesand the start ofHouse of the Dragonin 2022, this still makes bothThe BatmanandThe Penguinlook pretty impressive in view of the performance of the latter on its streaming debut.
The reasons for the current plight ofHouse of the Dragonbecome clear when taking into account the fact that original franchise creatorGeorge RR Martin slammedHouse of The Dragonseason 2 for ungainly tweaksmade to the narrative that diverged from the events in his 2018 workFire & Blood,which serves as the source material for the series. Fortunately forThe Penguin,the only other entities it has to answer to areThe Batmanand its own showrunner’s headcanon. Fans will have to wait and see whetherThe Penguinmanages to keep this early optimism or hit some major derailment down the line.
The Penguinis available to stream on Max and on linear TV every Sunday on HBO.
The Penguin
Created by Lauren LeFranc and starring Colin Farrell, The Penguin builds on 2022’s The Batman. The Max series chronicles the eponymous villain’s attempt to reach Gotham’s criminal peak, rising through the underworld in the middle of a power struggle.
