Pennyworth Trailer Teases A Very English Batman Prequel Series

Pennyworth in just five words? Bloody, saucy, and very English. 

The premium cabler Epix has released the first-look trailer at Pennyworth, the Batman prequel series starring Jack Bannon as a young Alfred Pennyworth, who protects and serves Bruce Wayne's father, Thomas Wayne, played by Ben Aldridge. 

Set in 1960s London, Pennyworth depicts its titular dude not as the wise majordomo of the Wayne family but as a strapping former British SAS soldier who founds a security firm after he returns home from war. Alfred's attempt at a new life (that still lets him get down and dirty) doesn't entirely flip his world inside out — that is, until he crosses paths with the American billionaire Thomas Wayne (pre-Bruce, of course). Alfred is suddenly thrust into the middle of a messy criminal plot when Thomas requests his protective services and explains that many people are out for his blood. Things get even stickier when the alluring Bet Sykes (Paloma Faith) kidnaps Alfred's lover Esme (Emma Corrin), then makes it clear that she and her partner Lord Harwood (Jason Flemyng) have their sights set on Thomas and Martha Kane (Emma Paetz).

The Pennyworth trailer weaves together naughtiness in Alfred's steamy rendezvous with Esme, humor in his back-and-forth bantering with Thomas and the baddies after his head, bloody brutality in the exploration of London's dark criminal underbelly, and delightful (if a bit aggressive) Englishness in nearly every second of footage. Bannon nails Alfred's signature accent as fans have heard the oft-imitated Michael Caine deliver it, and he seems quite charming in the role. Hopefully he can anchor Pennyworth, which thrums with a unique energy evocative of the Kingsman film franchise, and prove to the world that yes, a series devoted to the eventual butler of DC Comics' beloved Batman is something we all want and need.

Pennyworth will premiere on Epix on Sunday, July 28.