Sofia Falcone from The Penguin Explains: Who is the Batman Villain, the Executioner?

• September 21, 2024
• Madellina Monica
• popnews

Who is Cristin Miliotis Sofia Falcone?

In Batman's first days in office, Gotham City is still in the clutches of old-school gangsters like Carmine Falcone and Salvatore Maroni. Falcone's reign is inevitably coming to an end, and his heirs and underlings must fight for control of the family empire. Carmine's daughter Sofia is one of those looking to make a name for herself in a dangerous criminal underworld.

In the comics, Sofia's story is told primarily in the pages of Batman: The Long Halloween and its sequel, Batman: Dark Victory. The Long Halloween also served as the inspiration for a two-part animated film adaptation in 2021. The character also stars in the television series Gotham (played by Crystal Reed), manipulating cops and costumed criminals alike in her quest for power. But whether in comics, animation, or live-action, Sofia's story always ends in violent tragedy. Like so many gangsters before her, she ends up spiraling out of control.

Now Sofia Falcone is returning to the live-action film industry thanks to the HBO series “The Penguin,” in which she is played by Cristin Milioti.

Sofia Falcone in Batman: The Long Halloween

Sofia Falcone was created by writer Jeph Loeb and artist Tim Sale and made her debut in 1997's Batman: The Long Halloween #6. The Long Halloween is set at the beginning of Bruce Wayne's costumed career, after the events of Batman: Year One, and at a time when most of his major villains such as the Joker, Scarecrow, Penguin, and Catwoman have begun to plague Gotham City. In this chaotic time, the traditional crime families that control Gotham must contend with the presence of costumed psychopaths who are upending the old order. This includes Carmine Falcone, arguably the most powerful man in the city.

As if dealing with the three-man crusader force of Batman, Commissioner Gordon, and Harvey Dent wasn't bad enough, the Falcone family faces a new threat when a mysterious killer known only as the Holiday Killer leaves a trail of bodies throughout the city, with all of the murders occurring on major holidays. Falcone believes Holiday is a member of a rival crime family, but doubts grow when the killer also targets members of Sal Maroni's family.

Sofia herself comes into play when her father arranges her early release from prison. Sofia is assigned to hunt down the elusive holiday killer, but she can't find a lead. The killer strikes when Sofia's brother Alberto becomes one of her many victims.

“The Long Halloween” also serves as an origin story for Two-Face, as Harvey Dent is horribly scarred by a vengeful Sal Maroni. Maroni is then murdered by the Holiday Killer, who is eventually revealed to be none other than Alberto Falcone himself (he had faked his death earlier that year). But even though Alberto is locked up in Arkham, the bloodshed continues as Two-Face exacts his revenge on the Falcones. Two-Face kills Carmine, and Sofia is left scarred and paralyzed after a fight with Catwoman.

Batman is haunted by the discovery that there were actually two Holiday Killers. Although he believes Dent was the second killer, the truth is that Harvey's wife Gilda secretly took on the job in the hopes of punishing the men who threatened her husband's life and career.

The downfall of the Falone empire continues in the sequel comic Batman: Dark Victory, where Sofia tries to take control of the family despite her serious injuries. Gotham is soon plagued by a second serial killer. This killer targets police officers with ties to Harvey Dent and leaves behind a noose and cryptic clues in the form of Hangman puzzles. Of course, the killer quickly became known as “The Hangman.”

Although all signs point to Two-Face being the executioner, Sofia is eventually revealed to be the murderer herself, with her apparent paralysis being a clever disguise. Sofia even kills her brother Alberto because he is weak. In a final confrontation with Two-Face and Batman, Sofia almost succeeds in avenging her father's murder, but Two-Face shoots her instead. With Sofia's death, the Falcone family's stranglehold on Gotham finally ends and a new age of costumed criminals begins.

Sofia Falcone in Penguin

Sofia Falcone stars in the HBO series “The Penguin,” a show that appears to be heavily inspired by “The Long Halloween.”

Set shortly after the events of 2022's The Batman, The Penguin sees Robert Pattinson's Dark Knight tasked with hunting down Paul Dano's Riddler and uncovering a vast conspiracy that connects various Gotham City officials and crime boss Carmine Falcone (John Turturro). Guided by Riddler's clues, Batman eventually discovers that Falcone was a GCPD informant who betrayed his rival Sal Maroni and used Maroni's imprisonment to cement his hold on the city's underworld. Batman also learns that his own father, Thomas, had a past with Falcone, having saved the mobster's life many years ago and turned to him for help burying an embarrassing family secret.

Falcone is barely arrested when he is shot by the Riddler. Then the Riddler performs his final masterstroke, destroying Gotham's seawall and flooding part of the city. Although Batman ultimately saves the lives of elected mayor Bella Reál and countless others and becomes a new symbol of hope for his city, the damage is done. Gotham is in a terrible state and the death of Carmine Falcone leaves a power vacuum that various opportunistic criminals seek to fill.

This is where The Penguin comes in. The series follows Farrell's Oswald Cobblepott, who goes from being a “loyal” soldier of the Falcone family to becoming an aspiring crime boss. According to the series' trailers, his main rival in the series seems to be Miliotis' Sofia Falcone.

In The Penguin, Sofia is already a hardened killer who has earned a reputation as “The Executioner.” At the start of the series, she has just been released from Arkham Asylum and is trying to take control of her late father's empire. The series also introduces her younger brother Alberto (Michael Zegen), and we suspect there will be some serious family squabbles over which sibling is better suited to take over the family business.

If the Penguin is anything like he was in the comics, the series will end with Sofia and the Falcones losing their power to a new generation of super criminals. We'll see Oz fight his way to the top and become the new face of Gotham's underworld. Only he'll do it in this dark and grimy DC Universe, without Penguin sidekicks or trick umbrellas.

For more on The Penguin, check out IGN's spoiler-free review of the series, and brush up on all the DC movies and series currently in development.

Jesse is a mild-mannered editor at IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by Follow @jschedeen on Twitter.