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Carmine Falcone

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Carmine Falcone
Carmine Falcone as depicted in Batman Eternal #2.
Art by Jason Fabok.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceBatman #405 (1987)
Created by
In-story information
Full nameCarmine Falcone
SpeciesHuman
Place of originGotham City
Team affiliationsFalcone Crime Family
Notable aliasesThe Roman, Don Falcone
AbilitiesCriminal mastermind
Expert marksman

Carmine Falcone is a villain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, portrayed as a powerful mob boss, an enemy of Batman, and an acquaintance of the Wayne family. He has also been sometimes depicted as the illegitimate father of Catwoman.

In live-action, the character has been portrayed in film by Tom Wilkinson in Batman Begins (2005) and in television by John Doman in Gotham (2014–2017). In The Batman shared universe, Falcone has been portrayed by John Turturro in the film The Batman (2022) and Mark Strong in The Penguin miniseries (2024).

Background

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Carmine Falcone made his debut in the four-part story Batman: Year One written by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli in 1987.[1] In the comics, Falcone is a powerful Mafia chieftain nicknamed "The Roman", where his stranglehold over Gotham City's organized crime is referenced as "The Roman Empire" at least once. In Batman: Year One, his penthouse is designed in a Roman architectural style.[citation needed]

The character is based on Marlon Brando's portrayal of Don Vito Corleone from the film The Godfather (1972). Jeph Loeb, writer of Batman: The Long Halloween, stated in an interview that he paralleled the Falcone family to that of the Corleone family: Falcone's power and wisdom akin to Vito Corleone, his son Alberto's personality and appearance that of Fredo Corleone, and his daughter Sofia's temper matching that of Sonny Corleone. Lastly, his elder son Mario's deportation to Sicily, physical appearance, and desire to legitimize the Falcone family are all traits shared with Michael Corleone.[2]

Fictional character biography

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In a flashback in The Long Halloween, gangster Vincent Falcone brings his badly wounded son, Carmine, who had been shot several times by his rival, Luigi Maroni, to Thomas Wayne. Fearing Maroni would finish the job at a public hospital, he begs Wayne, one of the city's best doctors, to perform surgery at Wayne Manor. A young Bruce Wayne watches his father save Falcone's life. Years later at Thomas and Martha Wayne's funeral, Carmine Falcone, now part of his father's crime family, tells Bruce that he can always ask a favor of him should he need it.

In Batman: Year One, Falcone is shown to be the most powerful figure in Gotham City, with the mayor, city council, and much of Gotham's police force in his pocket and all of the city's criminal outfits under his control.[3] His power comes under attack with the arrival of the mysterious vigilante Batman. Despite GCPD Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb's desperate attempts to stop him, Batman's attacks on Falcone's crime family become even more brazen and Falcone decides to have Batman killed. Batman further embarrasses Falcone by rescuing Catwoman when the mobster and his henchmen catch her trying to rob them. In the process, Catwoman leaves Falcone permanently scarred when she scratches him with the metal claws of her costume.

Falcone orders his nephew Johnny Viti to kidnap the family of Detective Jim Gordon, but the attempt is foiled. When Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent's investigations start threatening his power, Falcone orders an unsuccessful hit on Johnny out of fear that he might talk. The failed hit results in the Falcone family getting embroiled in a mob war with Viti's boss Carla in Chicago, which serves only to further diminish Falcone's influence in Gotham.

During The Long Halloween, the weakened Falcone family is targeted by a serial killer calling himself Holiday, who targets and kills at least one member of the Falcone crime family each month on a holiday, leaving an item related to that holiday at the scene of the crime. When Batman and Dent burn his hoard of stolen cash, Falcone strikes back by hiring costumed "freaks" who become Batman's Rogues Gallery. Convinced that Dent is secretly Holiday, Falcone persuades his former rival Sal Maroni to kill Dent while standing trial for murder. Falcone arranges for Maroni to obtain a vial of acid, which he hurls at Dent during a court proceeding. The acid disfigures the left side of Dent's face, leading to his becoming Two-Face. Two-Face personally kills Falcone following a coin flip that lands on the scarred side.[4] Falcone's son Alberto, presumed to have been the victim of the killer, confesses that he committed the Holiday killings in an attempt to be accepted into the family business.[5]

In Batman: Dark Victory, Falcone's grave is robbed and his body disappears. It is later revealed that Two-Face has Falcone's body in his possession and froze him using Mr. Freeze's cryogenic technology. Selina Kyle visits Falcone's grave, believing him to be her biological father.[6]

The New 52

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Carmine Falcone appears in the second issue of Batman Eternal as a former mobster determined to reclaim his empire after Commissioner Gordon is framed for mass murder.[7] Falcone is unaware of the larger plot against Batman, and was informed that he would have a chance to strike by an anonymous letter sent to him by the true mastermind.

DC Rebirth

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In the "War of Jokes and Riddles" storyline, the Joker contacts Falcone and instructs him to kill the Riddler within an hour. His men ultimately fail to complete the assignment, leading the Joker to kill them. The Penguin then takes over his business interests on Joker's behalf.[8]

Family

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The following are relatives of Carmine Falcone:

  • Vincent Falcone – Carmine's father and the founder of the Falcone crime family.
  • Carla Viti – Carmine's sister and the boss of the Viti crime family in Chicago.
  • Louisa Falcone – Carmine's wife and mother of his three children. Her current whereabouts are unknown.
  • Johnny Viti – Carla's son and Carmine's nephew. Part of the Viti family in Chicago.
  • Lucia Viti – Carla's daughter and Carmine's niece.
  • Sofia Falcone – Carmine's daughter who takes over as boss of the Falcone family. Mario later legally changes his sister's name to Sofia Gigante to cleanse the family name of her crimes.
  • Alberto Falcone – Carmine's inept son, who is desperate to be accepted into the family.
  • Mario Falcone – Carmine's son and a successful businessman who seeks to legitimize the Falcone family, even if it means turning on his siblings.
  • Selina Kyle – Carmine's alleged daughter.
  • Kitrina Falcone – Carmine's estranged granddaughter and a skilled escape artist who becomes Catwoman's sidekick and apprentice.

In other media

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Television

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John Doman as Carmine Falcone in Gotham.

Film

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Tom Wilkinson as Falcone in Batman Begins.
John Turturro as Falcone in The Batman.

Video games

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 104. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
  2. ^ MacNabb, Matthew (2016-06-24). "Gotham Season 3 Casts James Carpinello as Mario Falcone". Screen Rant. Retrieved 2022-06-05. Jeph Loeb created Mario for Batman: Dark Victory, and based the character off of Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) from The Godfather film trilogy.
  3. ^ Greenberger, Robert (2008). The Essential Batman Encyclopedia. New York City: Del Ray Books. pp. 132–133. ISBN 9780345501066.
  4. ^ Batman: The Long Halloween #11. DC Comics.
  5. ^ Batman: The Long Halloween #8. DC Comics.
  6. ^ Batman: Dark Victory #10. DC Comics.
  7. ^ Batman Eternal #2. DC Comics.
  8. ^ Batman (vol. 3) #26 (July 5, 2017). DC Comics.
  9. ^ "Gotham is 'Not A City For Nice Guys' in new TV spot - Flickering Myth". Flickering Myth. Retrieved 15 October 2014.[permanent dead link‍]
  10. ^ "The Sinking Ship The Grand Applause". Gotham (TV series). Season 4. Episode 15. March 22, 2018. Fox.
  11. ^ "Gotham Chronicle". Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  12. ^ Jason J. Lewis [@TheJLew] (9 November 2016). "Another #JusticeLeagueAction sneak peek! I voice 'Carmine Falcone' in this clip..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  13. ^ a b c d e f "Carmine Falcone Voices (Batman)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved July 25, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  14. ^ Sepinwall, Alan (September 12, 2024). "The Penguin: Colin Farrell Gets Up to Fowl Play in Batman Spin-Off". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
  15. ^ "Bruce Timm Discusses the Batman Year One Animated Movie « THE FIRE WIRE". Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
  16. ^ Couch, Aaron (March 31, 2021). "Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One Sets Voice Cast (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  17. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (November 22, 2019). "The Batman Casts John Turturro as Crime Boss Carmine Falcone". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  18. ^ Eisen, Andrew (October 2, 2013). "DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide". IGN. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
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