The Penguin is an American crime drama television miniseries created by Lauren LeFranc in association with HBO. It is a prequel to her 2022 series, The Batman, and focuses on the Penguin's rise to power in Gotham City's underworld.
Rex Calabrese was one of Gotham's most famous gangsters before Batman existed. Yet he was loved and respected in his neighborhood because he genuinely cared about the people around him.
Rex was only the boss of a poor area of Gotham, so he remained less powerful than other criminal leaders such as Carmine Falcone. Unlike Falcone or Sal Maroni, who were only interested in power and recognition, Rex never lost faith in his humanity.
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for The Penguin.
Understanding Rex Calabrese’s role in The Penguin
Louis Cancelmi is a popular actor, and Rex Calabrese is one of the famous roles he recently played. In the first episode of The Penguin, the discussion between Oz and Alberto Falcone is about Rex Calabrese when he is killed. Rex was a Gotham City gangster and a childhood idol of Oz's.
Even though Rex Calabrese didn't appear in the series for very long, he is a very important character in the show, The Penguin. This is exactly what happens in the episode "Top Hat," where the episode begins with Oz's mother, Francis Cobb, delivering books for mobster Rex Calabrese. She sends her three boys out for delivery to Rex.
There the children find him publicly beating up a shopkeeper in broad daylight for an unpaid bill, Jack becomes cautious, while Oz is still attracted to Rex and raises his voice to call this mobster out. However, Rex pays no attention to Oz and instead gives Jack special treatment, as does Francis.
Oz's need for acceptance from his mother and Rex pushes him over the edge. Knowing Rex, Oz traps his brothers in a sewer tunnel during a game of hide-and-seek and decides to spend the evening with his mother, unaware of the danger to his brothers. As heavy rain falls on Gotham, Oz leaves his brothers to die in the sewers.
This flashback scene reveals the emotional scars that Oswald Cobb has borne. It is a self-made facade of lies and self-deception made up of Oz's entire personality - his mother as his moral compass, Rex Calabrese as his model gangster, and his family's "love" for him.
Rex Calabrese’s origin in the DC comics
Rex is not a long-time DC/Batman comic character. He has been recently introduced. Rex is an interesting character who debuted in DC Comics' 2011 New 52 universe. The Rex we saw in The Penguin was a major local gangster in Gotham City before Batman or any kind of local vigilante crime fighter existed.
Rex Calabrese is a mafia boss in the most deprived area of Gotham in DC Comics. Although evil, he is humble and good to the locals who respect him. Compared to Carmine Falcone and Sal Maroni, he is a weaker character, but his good intentions are evident when he tries to do his best. Later, however, Carmine surpasses him, and Rex comes to the fore when he is captured, bringing with him a new identity, Leo Leone.
In Batman Eternal #20, when Penguin and Carmine end up behind bars in the same facility, Rex's cover is blown. After a botched escape attempt, he encourages his daughter Selina to follow him into the underworld - her name is Catwoman - as a petty thief.
He was eventually ousted from his crime empire by Carmine Falcone, only to be replaced by The Penguin himself in one of the battles for criminal supremacy in Gotham City in the New 52. In this later storyline, Rex suffers an apparent heart attack and has a heroic send-off with his neighborhood.
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The Penguin is currently available to stream on HBO.
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