Who does Mark Strong play in The Penguin? Carmine Falcone's recast explained

The Batman spin-off The Penguin is now in full swing and the battle for control of Gotham’s organized crime scene is coming to the big screen. Although the series is named after Colin Farrell’s Oz Cobb, it also centers on Oz’s rival Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti), who makes a name for herself after being released from Arkham and tries to reclaim what she believes is rightfully hers.

The latest installment of the series, Episode 4, takes us back in time to flesh out Sofia’s backstory, meaning we see a familiar face from The Batman. But who plays Sofia’s father Carmine Falcone in The Penguin? Here’s everything you need to know about the character’s recast. Warning: Major spoilers for episode 4 of The Penguin so turn back now if you’re not up to date and don’t want to know what’s happening.

Is Carmine Falcone in Penguin?

Colin Farrell in The Penguin. — (Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Carmine Falcone died at the hands of the Riddler in The Batman, so he is not a character in the present-day timeline of The Penguin. However, Episode 4 of The Penguin is essentially just a long flashback that takes place ten years before the events of the series and focuses on Sofia, meaning we finally get an appearance from Carmine in the series.

Although the episode begins with Carmine promising Sofia that she can replace him at the head of the Falcone family “when the time comes,” he changes his mind when Sofia begins to question her mother’s death, when she is approached by a reporter concerned about the deaths of other women connected to the family. All the women apparently hanged themselves. In the end, Carmine frames Sofia for the murders, which earns her the nickname “the Executioner” and gets her locked up in Arkham State Hospital for a full decade.