First came Hot Archie. Then Hot Dumbledore. And now, it’s official: Hot Alfred is on his way. The cable network EPIX announced today that the very good-looking actorJack Bannonhas landed the lead role in theBatmanprequel seriesPennyworth, which revolves around the goings on of Bruce Wayne’s titular butler before he began looking after young Bruce. This casting confirms this isn’t your typical older, salt-and-pepper-haired Alfred Pennyworth. Instead, this Alfred is young—in his 20s—and doing work of a different kind.
Based on DC characters created byBob KaneandBill Finger, the 10-episode one-hour drama seriesPennyworthis set in 1960s London and finds Alfred as a former British SAS soldier who forms a security company with one Thomas Wayne, a billionaire. The press release describes this iteration of Alfred thusly:
Alfred Pennyworth is a boyishly handsome, cheerful, charming, clever young man from London. Honest, open-faced and witty; you’d never take him for an SAS killer. Alfred doesn’t know how to reconcile the kind-hearted boy he used to be with the cold, calculated killer he was forced to become. He’s a man on the make, who doesn’t know what to make of himself yet.
Sure. But that’s not all, asBen Aldridge(Fleabag) has been cast as Thomas Wayne, who is described thusly:
Thomas Wayne is a young, fresh-faced billionaire hailing from the east coast of the United States. Confident and extremely disciplined, this young aristocrat meets an unlikely business partner in Alfred Pennyworth.
Gothamexecutive producersBruno HellerandDanny Cannonare behindPennyworth, so one can presumably expect a similar blend of procedural storytelling with light insanity.
Bannon is probably best known as playing the object of Alan Turing’s affection in flashbacks in the 2014 filmThe Imitation Game, but he’s been doing extensive work in the TV-sphere recently with shows likeClique,The Loch, andEndeavor. Aldridge, meanwhile, previously appeared in the showsFleabagandSkinny Dip.
