Colin Farrell was ready for the end of “The Penguin”: I became “grumpy”

Colin Farrell wants to take a breather – literally. It can't possibly be easy to breathe in and out when you're buried under prosthetics for an entire season.

The star of the upcoming HBO spinoff series “The Batman,” “The Penguin,” told Full film that his only reservation about a possible second season would be the events in the masked chair. Farrell reprised his role as Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot from “The Batman” for the origin story of the “Scarface”-like villain and is unrecognizable in this role.

“I don't know, man. Don't get me wrong – I loved it – but it got to me a little bit,” Farrell said when asked if he would return to The Penguin for a possible second installment. “I ended up whining to anyone who would listen that I wanted it to be done like hell.”

The Oscar nominee for “Banshees of Inisherin” continued: “I tried to remind her that I had ‘grumpy gratitude.’ I was still grateful and still honored – I grew up with Burgess Meredith [who played the role in the ’60s TV series]and then Danny DeVito [in Tim Burton’s 1992 film ‘Batman Returns’] was my penguin – and being part of the tradition of this storyteller made me feel really privileged. But in the end…”

Farrell explained that whether more of The Penguin will be seen will depend in part on showrunner Lauren LeFranc. And even then, Farrell would need some time outside of his Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot costume to recover.

“Lauren said, 'Look, if I could find a way to do this that made sense, would you talk about it?' And I said, 'Absolutely.' And maybe in a year I would,” Farrell said. “But when I finished, I thought, 'I never want to put that damn suit and that damn head on again.'”

The actor added: “It's not that I didn't know who I was and I went out and burned cars and stuff, but… considering what [‘The Batman’ writer/director] Matt Reeves created and then what Lauren [LeFranc, showrunner] did and what Mike [Marino, prosthetics and make-up designer] and put them all together, it was a really amazing experience.”

Farrell had previously told MovieZine that the series was “really dark” and a “tough” experience for the actor.

“That's not to say I didn't enjoy it, I had a great time doing it,” he said. “It's incredibly brutal. It's a man's rise to what he's always dreamed of, which is a certain power or social status.”

Farrell will definitely return as the Penguin for “The Batman 2,” regardless of what HBO decides for the series.

“The Batman” writer and director Reeves confirmed to SFX magazine that Farrell's character will be part of the film, with Robert Pattinson returning as the titular superhero. Reeves added that “The Penguin” franchise serves as an “entry point” for “The Batman 2.”

“There are details that actually tie directly into the beginning of the next film and the way Oz enters that world as we pass the baton back to Batman and Batman is working on another case,” Reeves said.[‘The Batman 2’] will delve into the epic story of deep corruption and go to places he couldn't foresee in the first film. The seeds of that are all in the first film. It expands in a way that shows you aspects of the character that you never got to see.”