Batman: Caped Crusader's Big Gender-Swap Is The Villain Change We Needed

Amazon's "Batman: Caped Crusader" is another impressive handling of Gotham's legendary protector by the co-creator of "Batman: The Animated Series," Bruce Timm. Set against a 1940s backdrop that allows for a moodier and more mature take on the character than the 1990s classic series, one of the most striking switches Timm (along with J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves) makes to Batman lore appears in the debut episode.

In Season 1, Episode 1, "In Treacherous Waters," Batman attempts to learn the identity of the Penguin, which shouldn't be a difficult mystery for the audience, right? Oswald Cobblepot has always been a short, beak-nosed cackler who looks like a twisted version of Mr. Monopoly. However, this new take on Bats and his criminals gives the Penguin a gender swap. In this reality, one of the most feared criminals in Gotham happens to be a woman named Oswalda Cobblepot.

The owner of the Iceberg Lounge (Cobblepot's usual cover remains in place), this Penguin (voiced by Minnie Driver) is a cabaret singer and host of the club she owns. Her racket even gets praised by Bruce Wayne (Hamish Linklater), who acknowledges Cobblepot's scam of "hiding in plain sight. Smart." "Caped Crusader's" new Penguin is one of a number of seamless switch-ups the show makes on classic characters. Jim and Barbara Gordon are Black, and Harley Quinn (who, we might add, is one of the scariest iterations of the character we've ever seen) is Asian-American and in nowhere near the laughing mood as the versions we've met previously. But could mixing things up so wonderfully with staples of DC Comics history indicate an even greater push for altering other iconic comic book characters going forward, not just here but in live-action as well? Well, it's not like there isn't precedent for this to happen.

We're not one to fear the worst or anything, but we have a strong suspicion that YouTube is going to be littered with thumbnails featuring the new Cobblepot's face and "woke" in big block letters when "Batman: Caped Crusader" debuts. It's almost inevitable we'll be inundated with videos created by folks who simply can't wrap their heads around the need to gender- or race-swap a character that has been something else for decades. The obvious retort to their argument will be, "Why not?" After all, it's not like this sort of change hasn't paid off when applied to other staples of comic book lore.

Let's not forget that Clark Kent's Daily Planet boss Perry White will have been played by a Black actor not once but twice by the time James Gunn's "Superman" rolls around, with "The Wire's" Wendell Pierce stepping in for Laurence Fishburne, who played the part during the DCEU era. There's also Jeffrey Wright, who picked up the badge as the Dark Knight's ally Jim Gordon in Matt Reeves' "The Batman." The bottom line is, if a character is handled well and with decent talent, then there's really nothing legitimate for the naysayers to jump onto. In the Penguin's case, as brief as her appearance might be, the same can be said here. Her introduction is further proof that refreshing underutilized characters by breaking from their tried and tired established formula can lead to great possibilities.

When it comes to Batman's roster of nemeses, the madman in makeup and green hair has always had the top spot, a position constantly cemented further thanks to the various iterations we've seen over the decades. Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Hamill, and more have all contributed to The Joker being the Caped Crusader's most valuable villain over the years. But there's a new focus on the Penguin right now. Might the shift in attention be all part of an effort for the DC Universe to make further changes to more of its most popular properties going forward?

As it stands, between Colin Farrell getting his own spin-off as what might be the Dark Knight's most terrifying live-action villain to date and this version in "Caped Crusader" mixing things up as well, the Penguin hasn't had this much attention since Danny De Vito was seen spewing black ink in Tim Burton's "Batman Returns." With that in mind, might the future of the Dark Knight and other heroes see them facing other familiar foes but in different forms? And more importantly, will we see other underutilized characters reinvented as even more compelling ones? Let Bane take a back seat and give Two-Face some time with himself. Continue to explore this refreshing change of pace and let Gotham get taken over by the Gentleman or Lady of Crime instead of the Clown Prince. It's a whole new DC Universe these days – let's see its creators take advantage of that and really shake things up.