Pennyworth's Jack Bannon Names The One Alfred Actor That Impacted Him The Most - Exclusive
Though Batman is often synonymous with the name Robin, when it comes to onscreen adaptations of this universe, the name Alfred is much more prevalent. "Batman" fans have seen countless interpretations of everyone's favorite butler over the years. Yet when it comes to Alfred Pennyworth actor Jack Bannon and the "Pennyworth" series creators, one name stands strong as the show's relative blueprint that made the entire prequel series possible.
Let's face it, without Alfred getting Batman out of his endless messes, there wouldn't be much of a story for the Caped Crusader. Though it's also nice watching Ben Aldridge take on the character Thomas Wayne, watching just how Alfred transitioned from his young "Pennyworth" days to becoming Batman's butler (and unofficial sidekick) makes for a pretty compelling show.
"Pennyworth" invited Looper to the press room at New York Comic Con, where we exclusively spoke to Jack Bannon about which iteration of Pennyworth inspired him the most.
The other Alfreds
In regards to which of the many Alfreds impacted Bannon the most and what he wanted to do to create a new iteration of Alfred, Bannon said, "For me, Michael Caine was the big one because I loved those films. Also, he was the one that said, 'I'll play a butler as long as he's ex-SAS' [special air service], so he gave us that bit of the story, which [our show] explores."
Pennyworth showrunners Bruno Heller and John Stephens are on the same page when it comes to that sentiment and they cited Caine as the natural template for the show. Heller told Looper, "Michael Caine brought the right action and the right demeanor to it, and he also brought the SAS business."
Bannon added on the subject, "In terms of creating, putting our own spin on it, because way before any of the comics and everything like that, Bruno [Heller's] script was so good that we've never really seen a DC London and that kind of thing, so that was our spin."
New episodes of "Pennyworth" Season 3 stream Thursdays on HBO Max.