Batman prequel in works; Pennyworth to explore back story of Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred

A new unexpected Batman prequel is in the making. The 10-episode web series titled Pennyworth is said to revolve around the early life of Bruce Wayne’s loyal confidante and butler Alfred Pennyworth, as stated by The Hollywood Reporter.

Alfred Pennyworth. YouTube

As Gotham comes to an end with its fifth and final season, showrunner Bruno Heller is already prepped for this period drama set in London in the '60s. While the movie is not a Gotham spin off and singularly explores Alfred’s youth, it drives on his background as a British Secret Service Agent who later starts a ‘secret company’ with Bruce’s Billionaire father, Thomas Wayne. The prequel is entirely focused on Alfred and will not be connected to Gotham. In fact, Sean Pertwee, who plays Alfred in the series, has no connection with this web series..

Heller will pen and executive direct the web series which will be run by DC characters created Bob Kane and Bill Finger. The show has also roped in another Gotham veteran Danny Cannon, who will executive produce and direct the pilot. About the team involved in the web series, Epix president Michael Wright was quoted saying "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.”

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The announcement for Pennyworth comes as a surprise for a number of reasons, one of the major being that this show would not be considered as a natural follow up to Gotham. Besides, even as Gotham remained a respectable show on Fox and was able to reach the 100 episode milestone required for sale in syndication, it failed to get great ratings or make a mark.

The casting for the series is yet to begin but one can assume that a much younger actor will be playing the role of Alfred in his youth. The role has been brought to life before by many talented actors including Michael Gough, Michael Caine and Alan Napier.