Speaking to Variety, The Big Lebowski actor said the reason for not returning to the role went beyond scheduling. “I did what I wanted with the role,” he said. “In the show, there was a lot of violence towards women, and that’s not my thing.”

Showrunner Lauren LeFranc responds after the actor says he turned down The Penguin in part because of the show's amount of "violence towards women."

John Turturro says he didn’t reprise his role as Carmine Falcone in The Penguin because the series contains too much “violence towards women.” Turturro played the villainous Carmine Falcone in 2022’s The Batman,

Additionally, the episode “Cent'Anni” included flashbacks featuring Carmine Falcone, only rather than being reprised by John Turturro, Mark Strong played the younger version of the character. Although Turturro’s absence from this DC TV show airing running on the 2024 TV schedule was initially attributed to scheduling conflicts,

The Batman's John Turturro explains why he didn't return as Carmine Falcone, but it doesn't match the reason given by the producers of The Penguin.

John Turturro played Carmine Falcone in The Batman but didn't reprise his role for The Penguin because he couldn't handle the mob boss's villainy.

If you’re wondering why John Turturro didn’t reprise his “The Batman” role in the currently airing spinoff series, “The Penguin,” the actor has a good explanation. In an interview with Variety, Turturro reveals that he declined to reprise his film role as Gotham City mob boss Carmine Falcone for the HBO series.

John Turturro has revealed why he decided to not return as The Batman character Carmine Falcone for the Max series The Penguin.