After the death and destruction of The Penguin finale, one of its most low-key scenes may be hiding the villains for The Batman 2 in plain sight

The Penguin finale might have secretly introduced The Batman 2's villains.

During the quick courtroom tete-a-tete between Oz (Colin Farrell) and Councilman Hady (Rhys Coiro), you may notice a peculiar print around the walls of the courtroom.

But it's not the design you want to pay attention to here. Instead, the outline – an owl-like shape – is the key to this compelling theory.

Some on social media, as you can see below, have jumped to the conclusion that this is a tease for the Court of Owls to arrive in The Batman's 2026 sequel.

Owls in a courtroom?Court of Owls is definitely 100% not a coincidence #ThePenguin pic.twitter.com/iJyFBjOXueNovember 12, 2024

First introduced as part of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's New 52 Batman run at the turn of the 2010s, the secret society known as the Court of Owls stepped out of the shadows of Gotham to face down Batman – who they perceive as the biggest threat to their talon-like grip on the city, which stretches back centuries.

Tellingly, this isn't the first owl-themed tease to crop up in The Batman's universe. The first movie opened with a card sent by the Riddler featuring – what else? – an owl on its front cover. The 2022 movie, directed by Matt Reeves, also dug deep into the idea of the Renewal Fund, a pool of cash that was eventually misappropriated by various powerful figures, including Carmine Falcone.

That organized corruption and The Batman's obsession with birds (lest we forget 'El Rata Alada' and the 'bird with wings' riddle) is nothing new. So it only stands to reason that another ultra-powerful group in The Court of Owls might spread its wings in a sequel – which is set to start filming next year.

The Batman 2 hits cinemas on October 2, 2026. For more on The Penguin, check out our complete breakdown of The Penguin ending.