Taylor revealed during New York Comic Con that Paul “Pee-wee Herman” Reubens will play Oswald Cobblepot’s father on the hit series, and will be introduced in an upcoming episode of the show’s second season.
The casting is a return to the role for Reubens, who previously played The Penguin’s father in Tim Burton’s 1992 sequel Batman Returns. Taylor announced the casting news during Sunday’s Warner Bros. Television panel at NYCC.
“So we’re all familiar with Oswald’s mother, the fabulous, fabulous Carol Kane,” said the actor (as reported by EW). “We don’t know a lot about his father … We just found out that I do have a father. And he will be showing up very soon, and he will be played by none other than Paul Reubens, a.k.a. Pee-wee Herman! He’s playing my dad! What! The! Hell!”
Taylor later posted a promotional image on Twitter featuring his Gotham family.
Big news: Paul Reubens will be playing Penguin's father in @Gotham. Unreal. I have the best tv parents. Legends. pic.twitter.com/45v6iiks4y
— Robin Lord Taylor (@robinlordtaylor) October 11, 2015
Currently several episodes into its second season, Gotham follows police detective James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) as he attempts to fight the good fight in a city that is rapidly becoming a haven for criminals and villains. The series unfolds in the years before Bruce Wayne became Batman and chronicles the events that led to Gotham spawning its famous Dark Knight.
Along with Taylor and McKenzie, the FOX series stars Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock, Sean Pertwee as Alfred, Erin Richards as Barbara Kean, David Mazouz as Bruce Wayne, Camren Bicondova as Selina “Catwoman” Kyle, Cory Michael Smith as Edward “The Riddler” Nygma, James Frain as Theo Galavan, Jessica Lucas as Tabitha Galavan, Chris Chalk as Lucius Fox, Nicholas D’Agosto as Harvey Dent, and Zabryna Guevara as Captain Sarah Essen. The Shield actor Michael Chiklis also joined the cast this season as Captain Nathaniel Barnes.
During the panel, FOX also debuted a sizzle reel for the current season (embedded above) that features some of the highlights of the last few episodes. If you’re not caught up with the series, however, you might want to avoid the spoiler-filled recap.
Gotham airs Monday nights at 8:00pm ET on FOX.
