Gotham’s Showrunner Is Developing A Prequel Series That Will Focus On Alfred Pennyworth

Gotham’s showrunner, Bruno Heller, is currently developing a new show called Pennyworth that will be a prequel series centred on Bruce Wayne’s butler’s time before he joined the Waynes.

Season 6 will be Gotham’s last, but showrunner Bruno Heller isn’t finished with the Batman universe just yet. He wants to squeeze as much as he can out of the property, and there’s a lot to play with when it comes to DC Comics Batman characters. One of those characters is Alfred Pennyworth, who’s story before becoming the Waynes’ butler is a tad hazy. We do know that he’s had some military training and experience. In some storylines, he was part of the SAS (Special Air Service. The U.K.’s answer to the Navy Seals).

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gotham’s showrunners are developing a new prequel spin-off series called Pennyworth, which will focus on Alfred’s time before joining the Waynes and his time raising Bruce, and eventually helping him as Batman. However, it’s already been confirmed that Sean Pertwee, the actor currently playing Alfred in Gotham, won’t be involved in the project. There’s no word yet on who might play the character in this new prequel series.

Image via @FOX

I have been up until this point, you may be thinking that this is going to be a spinoff of Gotham, but you’d be wrong. “The series is not a Gotham spinoff but rather an entirely new story exploring Alfred’s origins as a former British SAS soldier who forms a secret company and goes to work with Thomas Wayne — Bruce’s billionaire father — in 1960s London,” writes THR’s Lesley Goldberg.

As it stands, Heller will write the pilot and be an executive producer, along with his Gotham co-producer, Danny Cannon who’ll also be directing the first episode for Epix. Epix’s President, Michael Wright, said: “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. 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.”

Heller and Cannon also made a joint statement about the new show: “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.”

Does Pennyworth sound like something you might be interested in? Let us know in the comments below.