The Penguin: Why Did the HBO Series Recast Carmine Falcone?

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for The Penguin Episode 1, “After Hours.”

A photo of Carmine Falcone briefly appears in The Penguin‘s debut episode – and eagle-eyed viewers will clock that he’s not portrayed by The Batman‘s John John Turturro. So, why exactly did The Penguin recast the Carmine Falcone role?

Why The Penguin Recast Carmine Falcone

Ostensibly, the reason Mark Strong replaced John Turturro as Carmine Falcone in The Penguin is because Carmine’s slightly younger in the HBO series than in The Batman. Since the crime boss died in the latter outing, all of his appearances in the former are flashbacks. That said, Strong is only six years Turturro’s junior, so Falcone’s appearance shouldn’t really be that much different. So, what’s the real story behind Turturro getting bumped as Carmine?

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Two words: clashing calendars. It turns out The Penguin team wanted Turturro to reprise the Falcone part, however, he was busy with other projects. So, he knocked them back, not the other way around. Writing Carmine out of The Penguin wasn’t really an option – his kids are key to the plot, after all – so Strong got the call-up. Showrunner Lauren LeFranc explained the situation in a recent IGN interview, insisting that Strong was a worthy substitute for Turturro.

“Well, practically, John was just unavailable to us,” she said. “He had scheduling conflicts, and we couldn’t make it work. But honestly, I’m so thrilled that we brought Mark Strong on. I think he’s really good. Even though, maybe in the beginning when you first meet him, you might think, ‘Oh, well, for fans of The Batman, obviously I’m so used to John Turturro,’ but I feel like the gravitas that Mark brings, it’s different.”

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LeFranc added that Bat-Verse fans shouldn’t even notice the switch-up after Strong’s Falcone makes his proper debut later in the series. “It’s very specific,” she said. “And I hope, by the end of that episode, you’re just thinking, ‘That’s Carmine Falcone,’ and you’re engaged in what Mark brings to it.”

The Penguin is currently streaming on HBO and Max, with new episodes dropping Sundays.