HBO Max cancels Pennyworth, tragically cutting short the origin of Batman’s butler
The series starred Jack Bannon as Batman's eventual butler, whose origins it purported to tell
Aux News HBO
Dooming millions, planet-wide, to toil in darkness without the knowledge of the critical backstory of the man who makes Bruce Wayne’s bed and cooks his eggs, HBO Max announced tonight that it was canceling Pennyworth—or, as it’s known to the masses by its immortal subtitle, The Origin Of Batman’s Butler.
This is per Deadline, which reports that the show’s third season, which aired last November, will be its last, ending a three-year journey explaining not just how Alfred Pennyworth eventually came to spend his days making funny little quips while while his son-boss Bruce nocturnally punched clowns, but also why. The series starred Jack Bannon as Pennyworth himself, a former special forces soldier who finds himself involved with American socialite (and CIA agent) Thomas Wayne, played by Ben Aldridge. The pair (along with Wayne’s eventual wife Martha, played by Emma Paetz) get up to increasingly ludicrous shenanigans in 1960s London, in a setting that was part period spy drama, part V For Vendetta riff, and partly the setup for a comic book universe where an ice man and a plant woman might regularly try to murder hundreds of thousands of people. (It was also technically a prequel to Gotham. Busy show!)
Pennyworth originally launched on Epix, where it ran for two seasons before it got moved to HBO Max. (It also got a shiny new subtitle along with the move to help explain its entire premise; you may have heard about it.) The show is one of several live-action DC Comics shows to get the axe at Warner Bros. Discovery in recent weeks: Doom Patrol and Titans all similarly got tossed off the schedule recently, presumably to make way for a new and ambitious slate of projects coming from the recently revamped DC Films.
28 Comments
I feel like the show shouldn’t have involved Thomas and Martha so much nor make them have more secrets than the should have had. I didn’t like that with Spidermans parents either. Sort of takes away from the idea that these characters put their mind and resources to be heroes by themselves.
It turns out those pearls that get scattered across Crime Alley were actually POISON PEARLS that made Martha vulnerable to things like bullets!
This show, and Gotham by the same guys, is so fundamentally wacky in tone that it’s hard to take it seriously for long-term character implications. It’s better to think of it as a prequel to the Adam West show than any modern Batmen, and I know how weird that is to say about something with a body count this high.
Midichlorians.
As for the show itself I always felt it should have been more of a direct prequel to Michael Caine Alfred. That one gives a better sense of gravitas to Alfred something like a James bond type character who is losing relevance and turns to Mercenary work to feel alive again.
Given so many Easter eggs related to Michael Caine (including a street in the first series named Micklewhite), his almost uncanny impression of Caine circa Alfie and the general tone, I always felt the same way. I actually liked the show a fair bit. Similar enough to Gotham for me to just kinda let the crazy in, but also quite a fun period piece.Also, Paloma Faith was fun.
The Sykes sisters were one of the best parts of the show.
They were great. I think it’s a shame that people probably so readily dismissed the show. I mean, I get being put off by the premise, but given how crazy it was, I could just enjoy it for the camp.
HBO Max best not cancel Harley Quinn!
Zaslav:
I honestly don’t understand why there’s a need to make Alfred more than just a butler.
Law of comic book characters: Every character, no matter how minor or inconsequential, will eventually have its own expanded universe.
Alfred is a key player in the ever-expanding MCU (Manservant Cinematic Universe).
As long as it includes Stephen Fry as Jeeves and a de-aged Hugh Laurie as Bertie Wooster, I’m in.
He’s one of 2-3 supporting characters who has appeared in Batman comics every year since the ‘40’s. We should all be grateful he’s not a time-traveling assassin’s clone or something.
The time travelling assassin/clone plotline was planned for Season 5, I believe.
Wasn’t he dead for a while to make space for “Aunt Harriet”? How long did that last?
Wow this show made it 3 seasons!
Did he in the end truly bang Batman’s mom at least?
I think he banged both Batman’s mom and the Queen.
There’s just so much potential to these non-Batman Batman shows. For example, we all know the story of Harvey Dent, doomed DA turned scarred criminal Two-Face. But what about the guy who taught him law at college? What’s his deal?
you say that but i would happily watch a fake ken burns documentary on arkham asylum.
Turns out that the guy who taught him law at college was just the orphaned young ward of the guy who taught him law at… law school.
Do we at least get to see the moment when Alfred gets bitten by a radioactive valet?
Three fucking seasons!?
This was a fun show, albeit insanely violent and amoral. I enjoyed the lunacy of its Alan-Moorish alternate 60’s British civil war. Not enough to watch all of Season 2, but still.
This show, which was also created by the producer of Gotham, was bonkers sometimes, but always watchable, and introduced the Wayne’s daughter, someone I had no idea existed. Too bad it was cancelled. It was best watched without thinking it was connected to Batman or DC.
As a big Batman guy, I seriously can’t think of a less interesting Batman show premise than Alfred: Origins. Especially when goldmines like Batcow remain unexploited.