If you’re hoping for a darker tale of how Alfred ‘Pennyworth‘ starts to work for Thomas Wayne, it seems you might be in luck. An early review of the pilot episode has it looking to be dark enough to deserve an R-Rating. A prequel story where Bruce Wayne has yet to be being born, let alone turning into Batman, doesn’t sound like something you could describe as “daring,” but that is the exact phrase being used here. Bruno Heller wrote the script for what we’ll end up seeing on Epix, and it sounds better than it has any right to!
The reviewer who believes that this pilot is going to be huge for DC fans shares that there are three aspects which are working for it: “the world, the characters, and the story.”
Starting with “the world” he shares that it “is something unique in and of itself. It’s a weird mishmash of an alternate reality post-WW2 dystopic Britain, neon-soaked streets outside nightclubs, and high society. The show is no-holds-barred: R-rated swearing, gore, violence, sex, are all prevalent in the world of ‘Pennyworth.’”
Already, it sounds different from everything else that we’ve seen from a DC series such as what “The Arrowverse” and “DC Universe” have been releasing let alone Fox’s ‘Gotham‘ which this will likely be most compared to due to the content.
As for the characters, “Alfred Pennyworth is just awesome in this show. He’s a British Army veteran currently working as a bouncer at a high-end nightclub. Alfred carries a lot of baggage from his time in the war, but he doesn’t let it get in the way of his life.” Of course, you can’t have Alfred’s eventual inclusion into the Wayne family without Thomas Wayne who is “a strapping young gentleman.” However, instead of a surgeon, we’ll see Wayne as “a financial analyst at a company that works for the US government (it’s kept intentionally vague, but it appears his organization comes into conflict with some of Britain’s gangs somehow). He isn’t married to Martha yet, in fact, he’s actually single.” If the show runs long enough, that is a plot point which the writers could easily end up developing as well.
For some of the female leads, we’ll see Bet Sykes who is “one of the main villains of the show, a brutal blonde with a hunger for violence” who is “working for a character called Harwood, who is necessarily the Carmine Falcone of the story. He’s a high-society British lord that has a desire to cleanse Great Britain of the filth it has amassed since the war.” In the pilot, we’ll also be introduced to Esme Whittaker who is ” dancer and aspiring actress that works at the nightclub where Alfred is a bouncer” and “Alfred’s primary love interest for the show.” A few other characters are introduced but aren’t front and center in the pilot.
The story is the third leg and the reveal below is full of spoilers:
…the Raven Society, a secretive group akin to the Court of Owls mixed with the Illuminati and Falcone crime family, need to capture Thomas Wayne. Alfred Pennyworth, bouncing one night at the nightclub, runs into Wayne and his sister. As such, the Ravens, through Bet Sykes and Harwood, try to get Pennyworth to give up Wayne’s location. They kidnap Esme and use her as leverage. Essentially, the entire episode, excluding the set-up, is focused on Alfred using any means necessary to get her back. Ever since the war, Alfred has been avoiding a life of violence and bloodshed, only using his skills for security. But this scenario throws him right back into the fray, almost like Robin in the new ‘Titans’ series. I love this choice to have Alfred be a hardened war veteran who gets pulled back into a life of murder and violence. There are multiple scenes where we see Alfred let loose his unmatched skills in combat, and they are just AMAZING. It’s bloody, brutal, and fuelled by strong pacing and character development.
This does hint that we could be in for a real treat when ‘Pennyworth’ lands on Epix. I feel that the major problem will be getting audiences to know about it and tune in.
Are you interested in checking out ‘Pennyworth’ when it debuts in 2019? Which parts of the story sound like they will or won’t work for you? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Source: Splash Report
