NEW YORK: Colin Farrell resisted rewatching iconic mob drama ‘The Sopranos’ while preparing for his turn as a gangster boss in ‘The Penguin,’ the Irish star of the new Batman universe series told AFP on Tuesday.

‘The Penguin’ chronicles the gritty rise of a low-level player in the criminal underworld against a backdrop of societal dysfunction in grimy Gotham City, with New York City used for filming.

Farrell’s anti-hero character, Oz Cobb who is dubbed the Penguin for his unsteady walk from a mishandled case of club foot, has drawn media comparisons to the larger-than-life mob boss Tony Soprano played by James Gandolfini.

Batman, Superman sequels: what is in the works at DCU and DC Elseworlds

Farrell, who spent hours a day being transformed into a grizzled, chunky villain, said he had drawn on “anything I ever read or seen about that world” for inspiration.

“To be honest I didn’t need references because the script was just – you use your imagination – we’re given fantastic writing,” he told AFP at the New York premiere Tuesday.

“There’s no doubt anything I’ve ever seen (inspired me)… from Untouchables to Sopranos – I’m not comparing myself (to the Sopranos). It inhabits a similar world. No (I didn’t rewatch it) – that would mess with me, why would I do that? That would mess with me because I’m very susceptible to influence” he said.

“All those films that I have seen in my past are part of my Rolodex of what I now own as my imagination.”

‘The Penguin’ is the latest of several productions set in the Batman universe, but without the presence of the eponymous hero.

This eight-episode DC Studios series follows Matt Reeves’s film ‘The Batman,’ starring Robert Pattinson as the caped crusader.

‘The Penguin’ airs on HBO and streams on Max from Thursday.