The Penguin: Who Is Dr. Julian Rush?

The Penguin’s second episode opens with a brand-new character to the world of Batman: a therapist named Dr. Julian Rush. Played by Luke Cage’s Theo Rossi, Dr. Rush makes his Gotham debut as he exposes Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti) to experimental red-light hypnotherapy. It’s an incredibly odd scene on The Penguin, especially as Sofia wakes up hyperventilating from her nightmare—only to find herself bear-hugged into submission by her overly handsy doctor. Though Dr. Rush promises that he’s here to “help her,” the exchange feels…strange.

Naturally, my knowledge of Batman comics had me searching for answers. I eventually settled on the possibility that Dr. Julian Rush is a new version of Arkham Asylum’s in-house psychiatrist, Hugo Strange. The doctor is a longtime Batman foe who often takes advantage of Bruce Wayne’s childhood trauma to torment his mind. He famously appears in Batman #1 (1940), employing patients from the insane asylum to do his criminal bidding in Gotham. In Batman and the Monster Men (2006), Strange is even under the employ of Penguin gangsters Salvatore Maroni and Carmine Falcone.

HBOWhat is Sofia Falcone’s (Milioti) relationship to Dr. Rush (Rossi)?

Still, Dr. Rush showing up as a psychiatrist doesn’t mean that he’s Hugo Strange by another name. Matt Reeves’s Batman universe—and especially The Penguin­—isn’t your typical superhero Easter-egg extravaganza. Much like the campy Riddler changed from an Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader maniac named “Ed Nygma” (enigma, get it?) to a QAnon assassin in The Batman, Reeves’s characters don’t follow the mold that superhero fans are accustomed to seeing onscreen. Neither does Colin Farrell’s Tony Soprano-esque remix of the Penguin, nor Milioti’s expanded take on Sofia Falcone. Actor B.D. Wong’s previous portrayal of Hugo Strange on Fox’s Gotham was also a truly unique interpretation of the mad doctor.

In this new Batman universe, no character is just another comic-book equivalent in disguise. Dr. Julian Rush might simply be Dr. Julian Rush. But if anything’s for certain, there’s no shortage of weirdos running around Gotham.