Pennyworth, a Batman prequel that focuses on Bruce Wayne's butler — All you need to know

Although it’s audacious to suggest that records cannot be broken or soulful art couldn’t be surpassed, there are certain things that perhaps might never be truly outdone. An example would be Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, which besides setting the bar for anything connected to the story of the caped crusader, has also somewhere ensured that everything that follows could very well be a letdown. Yet most franchise ideas are the kind of cash cow that studios would continue to exploit one way or the other. In this context, the recent news of Pennyworth , a Batman prequel focusing on the early life of Bruce Wayne’s butler and surrogate father Alfred Pennyworth sounds intriguing. [caption id=“attachment_5501321” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Alfred Pennyworth. Image via Twitter/@DCComics[/caption] Pitched by Bruno Heller and Danny Cannon, the executive producers of Gotham, yet another Batman prequel of kinds that follows the origins of Jim Gordon, Pennyworth will tell Alfred’s story from the time he was a former special-forces officer working for Bruce ‘Batman’ Wayne’s father, Thomas. Intriguingly enough, Pennyworth and Gotham are said to be directly unrelated but could such a possibility be too wild to imagine? Off late, the prequel universe seems to be bustling with HBO ordering a Game of Thrones prequel with Naomi Watts heading the cast; Marvel heroes Falcon and Winter Soldier getting together for their own and there is significant movement on a Lord of the Rings prequel. It’s not like this fascination is limited to the West. Closer home, Netflix has announced Baahubali: Before The Beginning, a two-season original series that would run as prequels to the blockbuster series. The lure of a ready-audience and the legacy of the brand are good enough reasons to dive into a prequel. Consider how Young Sheldon, a prequel to the popular _The Big Bang Theory’_s Sheldon Cooper character is currently in its second season and seems to be working its way to the audiences’ minds and hearts even as the original show ends next year. Earlier this year, there was news of a Sopranos prequel but instead of making it a series, the producers have decided to make a film. There’s even a 24 prequel in the works for those who are interested to know who Jack Bauer was before he became, well, Jack Bauer. There might be some ‘magic’ in prequels for, after all, The Godfather II was nearly as good. But for every one decent prequel, there are many pointless ones orbiting the airwaves. The enthusiasm with which prequels are being peddled brings to mind what screen diva Marilyn Monroe once said: “It’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.”