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Summary
TheBatmanuniverse is well known for its cast of colorful villains. But over the Dark Knight’s eight-decade career, the threats to Gotham City expand beyond the joke-telling, umbrella-swirling, riddle-setting inhabitants of Arkham Asylum. The Falcone family, also known as the Roman Empire, has been part of Gotham mythos for nearly 40 years. Appearing in some of Batman’s greatest stories, they’ve become a compelling part of the city’s history on page and increasingly, thanks to shows likeThe Penguin, on screen.
The Falcones bridge the old Gotham that created Batman through the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents and the new Gotham created when Batman’s war on crime raised the stakes to let in villains like Joker, Penguin and Riddler. Unsurprisingly, the family has made its way into expanded media.The Penguinshows how invaluable the most famous crime family in Gotham is in casting a new light on the dark city of Gotham.
What Is The Falcone Crime Family?
InBatmanhistory, the Falcones have the significance of being Batman’s first target. Sure, in the days before Robin, there were the growing inmates of Arkham to contend with, but the Falcone crime family’s grip on Gotham was what first drew Batman into effective alliances.
DC Comics has fleshed out the extended Falcone family, but the core protagonists remain those inspired by the Corleone family of Mario Puzo’sThe Godfather(particularly Francis Ford Coppola’s film adaptation). At the head is Carmine “The Roman” Falcone, an apparently untouchable crime lord and his wife Louisa. Then there are the three Falcone children: In descending order of age, they are Mario, Sofia and Alberto.
The Falcone family brought allies and rivals with them. Most notable are the Viti Crew, a family off-shoot operating in Chicago, and the Maronis, a rival crime family headed by Salvatore “The Boss” Maroni.
The Falcones In DC Comics
The Falcone family first appeared in Frank Miller’s definitiveBatman: Year One. In 1987, DC was taking advantage of its universe reset,Crisis on Infinite Earths. Wiping the slate clean and establishing a new continuity for well-known heroes resulted in influential arcs and series like John Byrne’sMan of Steel. Miller, who had helped establish the darker Modern Age of comic books withthe seminal TheDark Knight Returnsa year earlier, took the chance to reframe Batman by exploring his early years.
Batman: Year Oneconcentrated on the noir and realism of an inexperienced Dark Knight waging his war to free Gotham from the clutches of the crime families that controlled it. InBatman: Year One, evidence of corruption involving a detective in GCPD opens up the deep connections between crime and the institutions of Gotham City. It sees the fledgling Dark Knight save the family of newly transferred Lieutenant Gordon from the Falcones and Vitis. The pair then work together to hand District Attorney Harvey Dent the evidence to remove the corrupt Commissioner Loeb from office.
WhileBatman: Year Onewas a significant introduction, another comic arc is considered the defining saga of the Falcones.The Long Halloweenwas a 13-part limited series written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Tim Sale. It’s regarded as a classic Batman storyline, spawning a spin-off and sequels up to 2024’s limited seriesThe Last Halloween, where a host of artists pay tribute to Sale following his death in 2022.
The Falcones In Batman: The Long Halloween
The Long Halloweenpicks up fromBatman: Year Oneto explore the second year of the vigilante’s career. It entangles Catwoman in the Falcone saga, as she begins to suspect that Carmine Falcone is her father, and provides a compelling origin for a particularly dangerous interpretation of Two-Face. It also digs into the blood feud between the Falcone and Maroni families that ran through Gotham crime.
Having worked his way up the ranks to establish his family at the center of Gotham Crime, Vincent Falcone, father of Carmine Falcone and Carla Viti, had to contend with the Maroni family muscling into his patch. A breaking point was when Sal Maroni’s father Luigi ordered a hit on Vincent’s son. When Vincent brought a dying Carmine to Thomas Wayne late one night, and the doctor saved his life, it was witnessed by a young Bruce Wayne. For the Falcones, this was long-standing proof of the Waynes’ loyalty to the Falcones, which would drag the socialite into the year of the Long Halloween alongside his nocturnal alter-ego.
During that year, in which Batman, Gordon and Dent solidify their pact to take down the Falcones, members of the family are murdered on prominent holidays by a killer wryly dubbed Holiday. As Carmine’s attempts to assassinate Dent fail and all-out war breaks out with the Maronis, he’s forced to call on the growing community of costumed villains to hold his empire together. Things worsen whenAlberto Falconeand Carla Vita are killed by Holiday and, during a trial in which Sal Maroni offered to give evidence against Carmine Falcone, Dent is not killed but disfigured by an acid attack.
When Dent reemerges as the deranged and vengeful Two Face, he assassinates Carmine while itlooks like Sofia Falcone has simultaneously perishedin a struggle with Catwoman. The Falcone family looks to have succumbed to a new-look Gotham when Alberto is revealed to be Holiday, having assumed the ‘freak’ persona to be bigger than his father and faked his death. Two Face and Alberto’s crimes and personas blur in the arc as Dent’s wife lets Alberto take the fall for some of Harvey’s crimes, hoping her husband can be cured in Arkham, and Alberto’s execution is deferred due to insanity.
The Falcones In Batman: Dark Victory
This classic storyline continued in the limited seriesDark VictoryandCatwoman: When in Rome, which ran concurrently withThe Long Halloween.Dark Victoryprovides the origin for Batman’s sidekick Robin and ties up several character strands from Miller’sBatman: Year Oneas it charts the continuing battle between the Falcones and Two Face. It sees Carmine’s eldest son Mario return to Gotham and take custody of Alberto when he’s released on house arrest. At the same time, Sofia, who was left paraplegic after her fight with Catwoman, continues the Falcones’ war with Two Face.
All signs point to Two Face when a mysterious new killer dubbed Hangman starts targeting corrupt police officers. But the killer is later revealed to be Sofia, who was faking her injuries to take revenge on everyone who helped Harvey Dent become DA. As the truth emerges, Sofia smothers her brother Alberto and is ultimately shot by Two Face. When the broken Mario, the last surviving Falcone, torches the family home, it looks like the family’s grip on Gotham is over. Organized crime’s attempt to harness the new villains of Gotham ultimately led to its destruction.
The Falcones In Other Batman media
The influential Falcone family has played a role in theArkhamgame series. Their classic comic storylines have also been adapted into animated movies ofBatman: Year Oneand a substantially alteredBatman: The Long Halloween. But live-action movies and series have best demonstrated the crime family’s storytelling potential.
The Falcone family is a perfect way to ease Batman and his costumed rogue’s gallery into Gotham. Tom Wilkinson’s Carmine Falcone was a notable part ofBatman Beginsbefore he fell prey to Batman and Scarecrow,but fans will have seen the beats ofThe Long Halloweenstory arc play out more in the sequel,The Dark Knight. There, the Joker’s chaos decimates the crime families of Gotham, including the Maronis, and transforms Harvey Dent into Two Face.
The Falcones In Gotham
TheBatmancharacter who’s benefited most from Gotham’s early turf wars on screen is Penguin.Gotham, Fox’s prequel series that concentrated on Jim Gordon arriving in the corrupt city, was dominated by the fights between the Falcone and Maroni families in its early seasons. The feathered felon was shown playing the two off each otherto rise through the ranks.
DuringGotham, Penguin (Robin Lloyd Taylor) manipulates the Falcones and Maronis into a turf war that sees Carmine Falcone attempt to retire from crime. John Doman’s Carmine is the most noble and sympathetic version seen on screen, but that doesn’t mean his family is any less deadly or deranged. When Carmine leaves the city after his son Mario is infected by the Mad Hatter’s Tetch virus and ultimately killed, Jim Gordon lures him back to stop the Penguin’s reign of terror.
Gotham’s fourth season part-adaptedThe Long Halloweenwhen it introduced Sofia Falcone. Failing to save her from the Gotham life he had, Carmine sides with Penguin against his troubled daughter, only for Sofia to murder her father to pin the blame on her rival. Naturally, it doesn’t end well for Gotham’s new queenpin when she’s shot and left in a coma.
The Falcones In The Batman And The Penguin
The Falcone saga is most prominent in the films and series that make up Matt Reeves’ Batman Epic Crime Saga, starting with 2022’sThe Batman. WhileThe Long Halloweenstrongly suggested that Catwoman Selina Kyle is the daughter of Carmine Falcone, it has never been explicitly confirmed in the comics.The Batmanmade that an integral part of the film’s plot as as a young Batman (Robert Pattinson), two years into his career, tackles the crime families of Gotham including John Turturro’s twisted Carmine Falcone, and tangles with his illegitimate daughter Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz).
InThe Batman, the campaign of masked serial killer Riddler uncovers a web of corruption plugged into an ongoing feud between the Maroni and Falcone families. Oz ‘Penguin’ Cobb (Colin Farrell), abrilliantly realized Falcone lieutenantwho runs the Iceberg Lounge club, is suspected to be informing on the Maroni operation to GCPD, but it’s all part of the plan of the real snitch, Carmine Falcone. Conspiring to remove the Maronis from the equation once and for all, Carmine is shot dead by the Riddler while being arrested.
The Batmanentwines the history of the Wayne families further thanThe Long Halloween, linking back to a bad call by Thomas Wayne. A deal gone wrong during the Gothamite’s campaign to become mayor explicitly draws Carmine Falcone into the death of Bruce Wayne’s parents. In doing so, he becomes responsible for Batman’s existence.
The Penguinpicks up two weeks after Carmine’s death(the mobhead now portrayed by Mark Strong), using the changing face of organized crime to show the ascent of Penguin. Cobb eliminates Alberto Falcone (Michael Zegen), an addict and a playboy, early on and pins the death on the Maronis, igniting the usual turf war. But his major opposition isn’t Luca Falcone, Carmine’s brother who’s taken over the family, or the imprisoned Sal Maroni. It’s the astute and unpredictable Sofia (Cristin Milioti). The underestimated heir has recently been released from Arkham following a barrage of electroshock therapy, where she wasincarcerated as the Hangman killer. In this continuity, Alberto’s Holiday persona is shared between the Riddler and his older sister.
It remains to be seen whereThe Penguinand the forthcomingThe Batman 2take the story of the Falcones. But they’ve proved to be a fascinating addition to Gotham lore. The dysfunctional criminal unit brings a huge potential to explore Gotham City. Its impressive and destructive history is now being felt on screen as much as in the pages of comic books.
The Penguin
Cast
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.
