The Dark Comic Book Fate Of The Penguin's Sofia Falcone, Explained

HBO's "The Penguin" may star Academy Award nominee Colin Farrell as Oswald "Oz" Cobb, but the breakout character of the critically acclaimed TV series was troubled mob heiress Sofia Falcone. Played with explosive vulnerability by "How I Met Your Mother" actress Cristin Milioti, Sofia is the daughter of Gotham City crime kingpin Carmine Falcone, who was slain in Matt Reeves' 2022 film "The Batman."

Created by writer Jeph Loeb and artist Tim Sale, Sofia Falcone appeared in the 1996-1997 DC Comics maxiseries "Batman: The Long Halloween" — now considered one of the most essential Batman stories ever written — and its 1999-2000 sequel, "Batman: Dark Victory."

"The Penguin" draws heavily on the convoluted comic book history of the Falcone crime family, but it rewrites Sofia's tragic story in several significant ways. For example, Sofia in "The Penguin" is framed by Carmine for the "Hangman" serial killings and sent to Arkham Asylum. But in the comics, Sofia is fanatically loyal to her father and is revealed to be the true Hangman killer. Though both incarnations of Sofia are driven by revenge and seek to take control of Gotham's criminal underworld, their stories have very different endings. Here is the dark comic book fate of Sofia Falcone, explained.

"Batman: The Long Halloween" #6 introduces Sofia Falcone Gigante as she is released from Gotham Penitentiary, Carmine Falcone having arranged her early parole (in the comics, Gigante is Sofia's married name, not her mother's maiden name, as was dramatically depicted in "The Penguin"). Tall, physically imposing, and possessing nearly superhuman strength, Sofia is determined to eliminate the serial killer "Holiday" that has been targeting the Falcone crime family on national holidays.

Despite her fierce loyalty to her "Poppa," Sofia is having a clandestine affair with Sal Maroni, Falcone's underworld rival. Maroni throws acid in the face of Gotham City's district attorney, Harvey Dent, disfiguring him and creating a brand-new supervillain: Two-Face. In the ensuing chaos, Holiday kills Maroni, but Batman brutally disarms him and reveals his identity as Alberto Falcone, Sofia's brother.

In "Batman: The Long Halloween" #13, Two-Face frees Arkham Asylum's inmates — including the Penguin, Joker, and Catwoman — and breaks into Carmine Falcone's penthouse on Halloween. Batman crashes the supervillain shindig but is too late to stop Two-Face from murdering Falcone. Her father and her lover now both dead, Sofia flies into a berserk rage and fights with Catwoman, who is, unbeknownst to her, her suspected half-sister Selina Kyle. In the scuffle, Sofia falls out of a penthouse window, seemingly to her death.

As with many of the villains in Batman's rogues gallery, Sofia Falcone would prove difficult to kill. "Batman: Dark Victory" #1 reveals that Sofia survived the fall but was left scarred and paraplegic. Arkham Asylum releases Alberto to live at the Falcone estate under house arrest; meanwhile, a new serial killer dubbed "the Hangman" appears in Gotham, strangling victims with a noose and leaving riddles on their bodies.

Batman suspects Alberto to be the Hangman, though clues point to Two-Face, who still roams free. Catwoman returns from Rome, where she investigated the Falcones; she tells Batman that, despite Sofia using a wheelchair, she could not find records of Sofia's spinal injuries. Sofia and Alberto flee the estate and hide in their family's mausoleum. Cursing Alberto as a failure to both their father and the Falcone name, Sofia murders him.

In "Batman: Dark Victory" #13, the Hangman attacks Two-Face in his lair and reveals herself as Sofia. The Hangman's murder spree is Sofia's revenge on Two-Face — all her victims had, in some way, helped Harvey Dent become district attorney. Sofia faked her paralysis so that she would be overlooked as a suspect. Batman fights Sofia, but before he can subdue her, Two-Face shoots her in the head. Sofia's violent death at the hands of the man who killed her father effectively ends the Falcone crime family and its stranglehold on Gotham City, ushering in a new age of costumed supervillainy.