Epix and Warner Bros. TV have found their Alfred Pennyworth. Jack Bannon has been cast in the title role of the upcoming Epix drama series Pennyworth, a Batman prequel from Gotham showrunner Bruno Heller, executive producer/director Danny Cannon and Warner Horizon Scripted TV.

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The 10-episode Pennyworth will begin production October 22 at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in the UK, becoming the first series to film in the Warner Bros.-owned studio complex north of London which has housed production for such movies as WB’s Harry Potter/Fantastic Beasts franchise, The Dark Knight, Inception and Wonder Woman as well as outside productions such as Jason Bourne, Kingsman, Paddington and the most recent Mission Impossible installments.

Based on DC characters created by Bob Kane with Bill Finger, Pennyworth follows Bruce Wayne’s legendary butler, Alfred Pennyworth (Bannon), a former British SAS soldier in his 20’s, who forms a security company and goes to work with a young billionaire, Thomas Wayne, who’s not yet Bruce’s father, in 1960s London.

Bannon’s 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.

Heller and Cannon executive produce and Cannon will direct the pilot.

Photo by Warner Bros/Shutterstock

An older Alfred has been portrayed by a number of actors on TV and film, including Sean Pertwee on Heller and Cannon’s Gotham. Other notable thesps who have portrayed the character include Alan Napier in the 1960s film and TV series, Michael Gough in the Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher Batman film series, Michael Caine in The Dark Knight trilogy and Jeremy Irons in Batman v. Superman and Justice League.

Like all of his predecessors in the role, Bannon is an English actor. His credits include playing Christopher Morcom in The Imitation Game, and TV series Ripper, Endeavour, The Loch and Clique. Bannon is repped by Paradigm, Untitled and UK’s United Agents.