When Matt Reeves first announced that John Turturro would be stepping into the tailored suits of Carmine Falcone for 2022’s The Batman, a lot of people were scratching their heads. Turturro? The guy who got peed on by a robot in Transformers? The guy from The Big Lebowski? It felt like a curveball. But the second he appeared on screen, leaning over a pool table with those tinted glasses, everyone shut up.
He didn't play Falcone like a screaming comic book villain. He played him like a guy who’s so powerful he doesn’t even have to raise his voice to ruin your life. Honestly, he was the best part of that movie for a lot of us.
Then The Penguin came along on HBO.
Suddenly, Falcone is back in flashbacks, but Turturro is gone. Mark Strong is wearing the glasses now. Fans were confused. Was it just a scheduling thing? A money dispute? It turns out the truth is a lot more personal than just a "conflict of interest" in a calendar.
Why John Turturro Carmine Falcone Didn’t Happen Twice
For a long time, the official PR line was that Turturro couldn't make the dates work. That’s the classic Hollywood excuse. It covers everyone’s tracks. But eventually, the actor himself got candid during an interview with Variety. He basically said that the version of Carmine Falcone in The Penguin went to a place he didn't want to go.
Specifically, the violence.
Turturro pointed out that in The Batman, Falcone is a monster, but most of his worst acts—the murders, the exploitation—happen off-screen. It’s suggested. It’s scary because of what you don't see. In the spin-off series, the script leaned heavily into the character’s history of violence against women. Turturro was blunt: "That's not my thing."
He’d already done what he wanted to do with the role. He’d made his mark. Why go back just to do something that made him feel gross? You’ve gotta respect that. It’s rare to see an actor walk away from a massive franchise paycheck because of a moral or creative boundary.
The Performance That Changed Gotham
Let’s talk about that 2022 performance for a minute. Turturro’s Carmine Falcone was "The Roman," but he felt like a real-world New York mobster from the 70s.
He had this quiet, grandfatherly slime.
One minute he’s telling Bruce Wayne how much he loved his father, Thomas Wayne, and the next, you realize he’s probably the one who ordered the hit on Bruce's parents. Or maybe he didn't. The beauty of Turturro’s acting was the ambiguity. He lied so well that he probably believed his own bullshit.
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- The Look: Those vintage frames weren't just a costume choice; Turturro actually told Matt Reeves he’d only do the movie if he could wear the glasses.
- The Vibe: He was smaller than the usual cinematic mob bosses. He didn't need to be a giant to be the scariest guy in the room.
- The Legacy: He left a power vacuum that literally fueled the entire plot of The Penguin.
Mark Strong did a great job in the show—let’s be fair. He brought a "ferociousness" that fit the younger, more aggressive version of the character needed for Sofia Falcone’s backstory. But he wasn't Turturro. He didn't have that weird, specific Bensonhurst energy.
The Fallout of the Recast
When a role this big gets recast, it usually breaks the "immersion" for the audience. But because Carmine Falcone died at the end of The Batman (thanks to a well-placed shot from The Riddler), the show only needed him for flashbacks.
It worked. Sorta.
Most viewers accepted Mark Strong because, well, he’s Mark Strong. He’s a pro. But if you watch them back-to-back, the transition is jarring. Turturro’s Falcone felt like a politician who happened to kill people. Strong’s Falcone felt like a soldier who happened to become a boss.
There’s also the "EEAT" factor here—Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Turturro brought decades of character acting from Spike Lee joints and Coen Brothers films into Gotham. He knew how to play "slimy" without being a caricature. When he says he’s done with a character, he’s usually right.
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What We Can Learn From the Switch
If you’re a fan trying to make sense of the "Falconeverse," here’s how to look at it.
Don't think of it as a mistake or a failure. Think of it as two different lenses on the same man. Turturro showed us the "End Stage" Falcone—the man who had won and was now just rotting from the inside out. Mark Strong showed us the man who was still fighting to keep his grip on his family.
Actionable Insights for Fans:
- Watch "The Night Of": If you want to see Turturro at his absolute peak playing a character with moral complexity (and weird skin issues), this is the one. It’s on Max.
- Compare the Choking Scenes: In The Batman, the scene where Falcone tries to kill Selina Kyle is incredibly brief but high-tension. Compare that to the implied violence in The Penguin to see exactly what Turturro was talking about.
- Read "Year One": The comic version of Falcone is much more like the Mark Strong version—more "Roman Empire" and less "Brooklyn Social Club."
Ultimately, the John Turturro Carmine Falcone era was short, but it changed the way we think about Batman villains. It wasn't about the makeup or the gimmicks. It was about the glasses and the lies.
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To see more of the evolution of these characters, you should look into how the showrunners for The Penguin specifically adapted the "Hangman" storyline from the comics, as it provides the context for why Turturro felt the role had changed too much for his liking.