Did ‘The Penguin’ Just Tease Mr. Freeze or Zsasz?

‘The Penguin’ recently premiered with its first episode and the show has seen overwhelmingly positive reactions both when it comes to critics and the audiences. The show takes place a week following the events of ‘The Batman Part I.’ We’re seeing the consequences of the seawall being blown up and the consequences of Gotham plunging deeper into the corruption.

Oz Cobb, in a moment of weakness and impulsiveness, kills Alberto Falcone, the new leader of the crime family, and after that point, things start going downhill.

The Penguin needs to get rid of the body as soon as possible without being seen, and while he tries to stash the body in the trunk of his purple Maserati, he sees a group of kids attempting to steal his rims.

The Penguin gets mad and shoots at them, adding yet more impulsive decisions to the checklists. One kid fails to get away in time and is caught by the Penguin, Victor Aguilar. Victor’s life is saved by the mere fact that he started to stutter when talking to Oz. Oz recognized his speech impediment with his own problems and decided to utilize the kid to help him get rid of the body.

Now I’m not going to spoil how their relationship evolved in the first episode, but by the end, we have the making of a true villain – or at least fans are convinced that Victor Aguilar is either Mr. Freeze or Victor Zsasz.

The only connection between the three characters is really the name Victor (which doesn’t rule out Cyborg as well going by that logic.) But considering the tone Reeves is trying to set in his Batman universe, it’s really more likely that Victor is a live-action version of Zsasz.

Reeves said in the past he didn’t want fantastic elements in his universe, and Zsasz is just bland enough that you can fit him in just about any environment. He also appeared in numerous live-action adaptations, exactly for that reason.

Zsasz is one of the most popular serial killers in DC comics. Zsasz is a nihilist who believes that life is meaningless. After experiencing a personal tragedy, he fell into despair and insanity, turning to murder as a way to “free” others from what he perceives as the pointless struggle of existence.

He kills his victims in brutal and personal ways, often using knives, and then marks his body with a tally for each life he’s taken. His body is covered in scars, with only a few areas (like his forehead) remaining “reserved” for future kills.

So, you can see how he would fit well with the overall theme.

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