Pennyworth TV Series Casts Batman’s Father, Thomas Wayne
On the heels of announcing Jack Bannon as a young Alfred, Epix’s upcoming Batman prequel Pennyworth has found Bruce Wayne’s father, Thomas Wayne. Production begins Oct. 22 at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in England.
Written and developed by Gotham showrunner Bruno Heller, the upcoming series centers on Bruce Wayne’s butler Alfred Pennyworth, a former British SAS soldier in his 20s, who forms a security company in 1960s London with young billionaire Thomas Wayne, who’s not yet Bruce’s father.
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Ben Aldridge (Fleabag, Skinny Dip) will play Thomas Wayne, described as a young, fresh-faced billionaire from the East Coast of the United States. Confident and extremely disciplined, the young aristocrat meets an unlikely business partner in Alfred.
Owned by MGM, the premium cable channel Epix gave Pennyworth a 10-episode, straight-to-series order in May.
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First appearing in 1939 in Detective Comics #33, Thomas Wayne is traditionally depicted as a gifted physician and philanthropist who inherited a fortune. The murders of Thomas and his wife Martha during a street robbery are what spur young Bruce Wayne to take on the costumed identity of Batman.
Produced by Warner Horizon Television, the Warner Bros. Television division behind such dramas as Krypton, Animal Kingdom and Longmire, Pennyworth will reunite Heller with Gotham‘s Danny Cannon, who will executive produce and direct the pilot. Heller will write and executive produce.