Jason Alexander channels George while nominating himself for The Batman's Penguin

Before Jonah Hill bailed and Paul Dano slipped into the green spandex of The Riddler, there was rampant speculation as to whether The Batman’s villain would be the cackling prankster or his colleague, the stout, regal Penguin. And, in those slim hours between the two stories, Seinfeld’s Jason Alexander made it clear that, with Hill disinterested, he’d be more than happy to step in as Gotham’s most penguin-shaped crook. Better yet, he said it in a manner not unlike that of his alter ego, George Costanza.

“Ok, Jonah Hill passed” he tweeted, presumably while eating a block of cheese the size of a car battery. “Clearly the next move for Penguin has to be someone familiar with marine biology. Ahem.”

Knowing that this is George, not Jason, fans immediately replied in concern, fearful that Hill “passed” due to some Costanzian, envelope-centric scheme. Alexander, having reverted back to his true self, quickly sought to set the record straight.

“OMG, ‘passed’ in Hollywood means ‘didn’t take the role’ – not ‘passed away.’ Jonah Hill is alive and well. Sorry for the fright,” he wrote, rounding it out with a bit of self-deprecation that’d be a touch too clever coming from George’s mouth. “And for future reference, ‘bombed’ doesn’t mean ‘exploded’ in my biz. If it did, I’d be in pieces all over the world.” (Bob Patterson never got a fair shot!)

It remains unclear if The Batman will also feature the Penguin, and, until it’s confirmed that it won’t, we will anticipate a monocled, Gore-Tex’d George, slippin’ mickies and scarfing trash eclairs while shouting “Penguin’s gettin’ upset!” atop a motorized scooter he doesn’t need.

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