It's about time we be introduced to Batman's butler Pennyworth as Epix orders an exclusive series
Brace yourselves! There are more stories to a superhero than you fathomed.
In a new angle to Batman, there's a lurking original story on his best friend and butler, Alfred Pennyworth. A new show titled 'Pennyworth' was ordered a 10-episode straight-to-series by Epix.
A premium cable and satellite television network owned by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is getting into the DC Comics business handing out a drama set in the Batman universe from Gotham showrunner, Bruno Heller.
The series will center around Alfred Pennyworth, who we only know as the best friend and butler to Bruce Wayne (aka Batman). The series is not a Gotham spinoff but in fact, an entire new story exploring Alfred's origins as a former British SAS soldier who sets out to form a secret company working with Thomas Wayne — Bruce's billionaire father — in 1960s London.
Sean Pertwee, who plays Alfred Pennyworth on Fox's recently renewed Gotham, is not the leading character for this show. There are a handful of actors who have played the Alfred role including Jeremy Irons, Michael Gough, Michael Caine, Alan Napier and William Austin. However, the casting has not yet begun and the series is set in a completely different universe despite hailing from Heller and producers Warner Horizon.
Pennyworth is based on DC characters created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. Heller will pen the script and executive produce the show. The drama marks a reunion for Heller with Gotham's Danny Cannon, who will also executive produce and direct the pilot as he did with the Fox Batman origin story.
"As genuine fans of these classic DC characters, as well as the incredibly talented Bruno Heller and Danny Cannon, we couldn’t be more excited to make Epix the home of this series," Epix president Michael Wright said.
"We can’t wait to work with Bruno and Danny — along with Peter Roth, Susan Rovner, Brett Paul and the team at Warner Horizon — on this fantastic origin story.”
"Michael and his colleagues have created the perfect venue for original storytelling, and all of us working on Pennyworth are thrilled to be on the Epix slate,” Heller and Cannon said in a joint statement.
At Epix, Pennyworth brings the premium cabler into the genre space with the series joining recent straight-to-series drama Godfather of Harlem. Pennyworth arrives six months after Wright was tapped to take over the cable network.
