Now that James Gunn and Peter Safran have announced the new slate of DC Universe TV shows and movies, it should come as no surprise that Warner Bros. continues to ax any holdovers from the past, most of which were chugging along on HBO Max. The latest series to end is Pennyworth, or more properly, Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman’s Butler.
This program, which featured Jack Bannon as Alfred Pennyworth, a former SAS soldier, and his adventures in late-sixties London, aired for two seasons on Epix starting in 2019. Like a lot of other DC-based shows, it was then brought over to HBO Max beginning with its third season, which launched last October. That will be the final adventure for this iteration of Alfred.
That final season also saw the show’s title expanded to Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman’s Butler. A move that was decried by most. Apparently, it was felt that not enough people realized that this program was connected to the Dark Knight. Therefore, it wasn’t performing as well as hoped.
Pennyworth also starred Ben Aldridge as Thomas Wayne and Emma Paetz as Martha Wayne, who would go on to be the parents of Bruce. Bruno Heller and Danny Cannon created the series.
The Cancellation of Pennyworth
The cancellation of Pennyworth follows the axing of Titans and Doom Patrol, two cult favorite shows that originated on the shortlived DC Universe streaming service. Both programs lasted for four seasons altogether. Just like Pennyworth, their first two were streamed on their original home before switching to HBO Max starting with their third.
Pennyworth was not directly tied to a specific project. It was a prequel to the overall Batman story which has been adapted into countless TV shows, movies, video games, and of course, comics.
Similarly, Titans and Doom Patrol existed in their own respective realities, even though the Doom Patrol made a guest appearance in Titans Season One. It was announced that these two series were no longer connected once their own show launched.
And it looks like connectivity is where Gunn and Safran are headed. The slate of new DC shows is all set in some way within the unfolding DC Universe, which includes the movies.
There were 10 episodes in each season of Pennyworth, bringing its total to 30. Unfortunately, not many people have Epix, so it was never a huge success. It failed to find an audience even after moving to HBO Max and changing its name.
Were you a fan of Pennyworth or any of the other canceled DC shows? Are you sad to see them go?
