- Sofia Falcone debuted in 1997 comic
- Nicknamed by The Gotham Gazette
- Differences between comic and TV series story
The Penguin miniseries on HBO Max has been a raving success since its release in September 2024. It has been praised for its compelling storytelling with both fans and critics, and has already scooped a handful of awards. With Colin Farrell taking centre stage as Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot aka, The Penguin, it has people asking who needs The Batman?
Read more: All we know about The Penguin season 2
Farrell, fresh off a Golden Globe win and widely expected to earn an Emmy nomination for his transformative performance, isn’t the only talking point.. Many eyes are also on Cristin Milioti who plays Sofia Falcone, the daughter of deceased criminal overlord Carmine Falcone. Like the Penguin, Sofia is a villainous character from the DC comics, but also carries the moniker of The Hangman.
But who is she? And what’s with the nickname? Let’s take a closer look at one of the most fearsome characters in all of Gotham City.
Warning: this article includes spoilers.
Who is Sofia Falcone?
Sofia Falcone was created by writer Jeph Loeb and artist Tim Sale and debuted in 1997’s Batman: The Long Halloween #6. As in the show, she is the daughter of mob boss Carmine Falcone – a very powerful man.
Read more: The Penguin emerges as a serious contender for the 2025 Emmy Awards
In the comics, a murderer known only as Holiday begins a killing spree across the city on major holiday dates. Carmine sees this as a threat and arranges an early prison release for his daughter, Sofia. She is tasked with hunting Holiday down, but fails. The mission takes a personal turn when her brother, Alberto Falcone, is seemingly killed by the murderer. However, it turns out the death is faked and Holiday is in fact revealed to be Alberto. Meanwhile, Sofia finds herself feuding with Catwoman and is left paralyzed after a confrontation.
Sofia, with her injuries, and the eventual imprisonment of her brother Alberto and killing of her father Carmine by Harvey ‘Two-Face’ Dent, emerges from the chaos as a much darker character. In the sequel comic, Batman: Dark Victory, The Hangman is born.
While Sofia is the same character in the TV series, her story of getting there differs and she’s also not portrayed as physically paralzyed, but as psychologically broken.
Really cool that they mentioned Sofia Falcone as the Hangman #ThePenguin pic.twitter.com/p6C7hLvvkE
— BLURAYANGEL 🦇 (@blurayangel) September 20, 2024
The Penguin occurs five years after The Batman (2022) and Sofia is already known as The Hangman when she’s introduced. With Carmine dead – he was shot and killed by the Riddler in the film – his drug-addicted son Alberto hopes to take over the criminal empire. This doesn’t last long, with Colin Farrel as Oz shooting him dead. Sofia, newly released from Arkham Asylum, suspects Oz is responsible for Alberto’s disappearance and so begins the fight for control of Gotham City’s criminal underworld.
Why is she called The Hangman in The Penguin?
In the DCU, The Gotham Gazette nicknamed Sofia The Hangman. As the name suggests, Sofia would kill and leave her victims strung up and hanging around places in Gotham City. She leaves behind cryptic hangman game-style clues at the crime scenes and her killings are meant to spread fear and confusion.
In the comic world, she seeks revenge by targeting law enforcement officers she believes are allied with Harvey Dent. She blames him for her family’s downfall following her father’s killing.
Whereas, over on HBO, her story is somewhat reversed in the show. Sofia is motivated to avenge The Penguin for killing her brother. However, following a tip-off from The Penguin she is framed by Carmine for his murders, unfairly dubbed The Hangman and sent to Arkham Asylum.
Sofia Falcone being the ultimate girl boss that she is dancing in the most stunning dress after killing her family of traitors she did what she HAD to do..#ThePenguin pic.twitter.com/4DKYlCZLcf
— sabrina 🦇 (@nightwaynes) October 14, 2024
