Pennyworth
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| German title | Pennyworth |
| Original title | Pennyworth |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Year (s) | since 2019 |
| Production company |
Primrose Hill Productions, DC Entertainment , Warner Horizon Television |
| Episodes | 10 in 1+ seasons |
| genre | Thriller |
| idea |
Bruno Heller , Danny Cannon |
| First broadcast | July 28, 2019 (USA) on Epix |
First publication in German |
October 25, 2019 on StarzPlay |
| occupation | |
Pennyworth is an American crime series by Bruno Heller and Danny Cannon , the focus of which is Alfred Pennyworth , the later butler and fatherly friend of Batman . In the series he is in his mid-twenties who, after ten years of service with the British SAS , wants to set up his own security company in London. But he still works as a bouncer and bouncer in a nightclub, where he meets the American businessman Thomas Wayne.
The series is set in London in the 1960s in an alternate reality. Based on characters from DC Comics , Pennyworth tells the story of Batman's Butler as a real-life version with Jack Bannon in the title role. In this respect, the series is similar to the Gotham series , also developed by Heller and Cannon , which also takes place before the actual Batman adventures and shows Bruce Wayne as a teenager and Alfred Pennyworth as a middle-aged man.
Pennyworth premiered in July 2019. A second season of the series was ordered in October 2019.
action
After ten years of service in the military, which he took up at the age of 16 and which last led him to the SAS , Alfred Pennyworth tried to found his own company under the Pennyworth Security brand . His father, who works as a butler, does not like Alfred's wish because he wants to see him follow in his footsteps. Meanwhile, Alfred works as a bouncer in a night club. It was there that he met the American businessman Thomas Wayne for the first time, with whom he exchanged business cards, and it was there that he met the dancer and theater actress Esme Winikus, with whom he fell in love.
Wayne works for the CIA and has obtained information about the so-called Raven Society , which, under the leadership of Lord James Harwood, is striving for a revolution and fascist order for Great Britain. When an attempted kidnapping by the Raven Society occurs , Wayne escapes, but leaves Alfred's business card behind. Bet Sykes, Lord Harwood's henchman, kidnaps Esme and demands Alfred Wayne in exchange for Esme. Alfred tracks down Wayne together with his old Army friends Bazza and Dave Boy and takes him to the agreed exchange location. A shootout breaks out, but Alfred learns where Esme is being held and with the help of Dave Boy and Bazza he can rescue her. As a result of this action, Harwood is taken into custody by the police and Alfred is honored by the Queen.
Back at his parents' home, Alfred comes across Bet, who is now threatening Alfred's parents. However, Bet can be overwhelmed and, like Harwood, will be locked in the Tower of London . While Harwood is tortured to reveal his employer, Bet is sentenced to death for high treason and awaits execution. However, while in detention, she can blackmail her guard. He sends a letter to Bet's sister Peggy, with whose help Bet can escape execution.
Jason Ripper tackles the bartender Sandra Onslow in Alfred's regular pub. Alfred can stop that and comes into contact with Jason's uncle, the crime Lord John Ripper. Alfred proposes marriage to Esme, which she accepts. Wayne tries to convince Alfred to work for him, but he refuses. Shortly afterwards, Alfred is hired by Martha Kane as a driver. Kane is a photographer, but also active in the socialist No Name League , the political opponent and greatest adversary of the Raven Society . What Alfred doesn't know: Kane reports to Thomas Wayne, who was smuggled into the No Name League by the CIA . So Wayne managed to use a ruse to hire Pennyworth. With the money he earned, Alfred rents a home for himself and Esme.
Meanwhile, the tortured, mutilated and mentally disoriented Harwood is released from custody onto the street. Meanwhile, Alfred learns of Wayne's ruse. Because of the good pay, he decides to continue working for the No Name League , which is looking for Harwood's successor as chairman of the Raven Society . In a village outside London, Martha and Alfred identify the doctor Frances Gaunt. When Alfred returns, he finds Esme dead in the new apartment, apparently strangled by a burglar. Alfred is devastated by her death and is hallucinated for months by his war experiences. Eventually he is visited by John Ripper, who offers him to help Alfred find Esme's murderer if he fulfills an assignment in return.
Meanwhile, the Raven Society is tyrannizing Great Britain more and more openly and dominates the street battles against the No Name League . Wayne then receives from Julian Thwaite, the leader of the No Name League , the order to eliminate Gaunt. Wayne hires Dave Boy for this. To this end, a meeting between Thwaite and Gaunt is organized, supposedly to agree a ceasefire, but in fact as a trap for Gaunt. But the plan goes wrong when Alfred appears and in turn shoots Thwaite, as requested by Ripper. Behind the murder plot is Julian Thwaite's wife Undine, who wants to become the leader of the No Name League herself .
After Alfred has successfully carried out the job, Ripper gives him the tip to go to the witch Baroness Ortsey, who should help him find the killer. With their help, Alfred locates the old SAS Captain John Curzon as Esme's murderer. Alfred once made a joke at his expense, whereupon Curzon wanted to get revenge on him by murdering Esme. Alfred goes in search of Curzon and meets Bet Sykes, who also wants to take revenge on Curzon for Esme's death. Finally, the police inspector Aziz learns that Alfred Curzon is hunting. Since Curzon is the illegitimate son of the influential Lord William Smytth, on whose vote the Prime Minister depends, he is covered by the police. Instead, Aziz lures Alfred into a trap by handing Curzon over, but at the same time surrounding Alfred with snipers. Finally, Bet appears and saves Alfred so that he can shoot Curzon. Shortly thereafter, Alfred is caught by the police and sentenced to seven years in prison in New Gate Prison. At the same time, Wayne analytically discovers from his CIA superiors that Undine Thwaite is behind the murder assignment for Julian Thwaite. Meanwhile, at another meeting between Thwaite and Gaunt, a ceasefire is agreed.
In London, Pegg and Bet find Lord Harwood, a mutilated homeless man who has lost his memories. They take him in while Harwood regains his memories over time. A short time later he meets with Gaunt and they decide that Harwood will initially continue to operate in secret until a public rally. At the rally, Gaunt resigns as leader and announces Harwood as the new leader. The Prime Minister then orders that the event be put down. However, Harwood intervenes in the crackdown and orders the police to stop the action. The police obey his orders. The Prime Minister then announced new elections, including the Raven Society and the No Name League. They choose to band together, which is causing the prime minister to be concerned. He makes Alfred an offer to release him if he eliminates the parties involved in the negotiations between Harwood and the No Name League.
Meanwhile, Martha learns that Wayne is a CIA agent and doesn't just work for the No Name League. When Alfred wanted to carry out the assignment with Bazza and Dave Boy under the command of Aziz, they noticed that Martha and Wayne were responsible for the negotiations of the No Name League. Alfred then decides not to carry out the job and instead helps Martha, Wayne and Harwood to escape from the approaching police. In order not to end up in New Gate again, Alfred wants to flee to America.
During the hunt, the Queen is kidnapped by Peggy and Bet. They blackmail the Queen into releasing the Prime Minister and appointing Harwood as the new ruler. By orders from the Queen, the army is now under Harwood's command, and Thwaite is hanged. Due to the coup , a curfew was imposed, so Alfred had to stay in England. He visits Wayne with Martha, who also intend to flee to America because of the coup. When Alfred learns of the coup, he decides not to flee and instead wants to free the Queen from captivity together with Martha, Wayne, Dave Boy and Bazza.
On the way to see Peggy and Bet, Wayne reveals to Martha that he has feelings for her. When the kidnappers arrive, they can free the Queen. The coup plotters are then arrested on the orders of the Queen. At the same time, she pardons Alfred so that he can stay in London, and he receives a job offer to work for Scotland Yard . Meanwhile, Alfred learns that his father is a member of the Raven Society's Old Guard. At a dinner party attended by the Queen and the Prime Minister, Alfred's father planted a bomb when Alfred appeared. He can still save the Queen while his father carries out the suicide attack.
That same evening Martha comes to Wayne and they admit their love for each other.
History of origin
On May 19, 2018 it was announced that the American television station Epix had ordered the first season of Pennyworth . The series is produced by Warner Horizon Scripted Television under Executive Production by Bruno Heller.
The cast was announced in mid-October 2018. The role of the protagonist Alfred Pennyworth was cast with Jack Bannon .
Filming began on October 22, 2018 at the Warner Bros studios in Leavesden . In addition, it was shot in London. In February 2019 it was announced that the first broadcast of the first episode would take place in June 2019.
On the assumption that Pennyworth would be a prequel series for Gotham , Heller replied on the press tour of the Television Critics Association in early 2019 that the new series would not be a counterpart to Gotham , but a standalone : "It's a different genre and a different format." While Gotham has an often wacky comic show with bizarre characters e.g. B. like the Joker , the Penguin and the Riddler , Pennyworth would be a dark crime drama.
In mid-June, Epix released the first trailer for the series after a teaser was released two months earlier.
Cast and dubbing
The German-language dubbing was done by Arena Synchron in Berlin under the dialogue book by Annemarie Vogel and directed by Ozan Ünal .
| Role name | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Alfred Pennyworth | Jack Bannon | Jeremias Koschorz |
| Thomas Wayne | Ben Aldridge | Tobias Nath |
| Deon 'Bazza' Bashford | Hainsley Lloyd Bennett | Arne Stephan |
| Wallace 'Dave Boy' McDougal | Ryan Fletcher | Leonhard Mahlich |
| Mary Pennyworth | Dorothy Atkinson | Silvia Missbach |
| Arthur Pennyworth | Ian Puleston-Davies | Lutz Schnell |
| Bet Sykes | Paloma Faith | Peggy Pollow |
| Lord Harwood | Jason Flemyng | Marcus Off |
| prime minister | Richard Clothier | Peter Flechtner |
| Esme Winikus | Emma Corrin | Lydia Morgenstern |
| Patricia Wayne | Salome R. Gunnarsdottir | Mareile Moeller |
| The Queen | Jessica Ellerby | Bianca Warnek |
| Undine Thwaite | Sarah Alexander | Susanne Geier |
reception
The first season was evaluated on February 9, 2020 on Rotten Tomatoes with 72 percent positive reviews based on 29 ratings. On Metacritic 60 reviews were evaluated as positive, with 9 opinions being considered.
Patrick Heidmann from the Süddeutsche Zeitung says: “Pennyworth sits down between all chairs in an appealing and entertaining way: there is something comic-like about humor and exaggerated excesses of violence, the dialogues are polished and stylized with strong expressions. [...] A little more focus wouldn't have hurt with the sprawling minor characters, but the series is still fun. It just doesn't really work as a Batman prequel. ”At the same time, he notes,“ (if) he hopes for references, he is [...] disappointed: there is hardly more to be discovered than getting to know the parents of the later superhero ”. With regard to the fact that with Batman's butler Alfred Pennyworth slips into the main role, Heidmann notes that “Stories from the world of superheroes are now [so omnipresent] that characters have long since had to serve as protagonists who, at best, have a supporting role in the templates played. The hit movie Joker is currently the best example of this. And the new Pennyworth series also falls into this category ”.
Claudia Reinhard says in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that it is precisely the few references to the Batman universe that make the series strong: "(O) excessive allusions to backgrounds from other media [prevent] in so many offshoot series and films [ ...] that a story finds itself. Similar to the ' Breaking Bad ' pre-story ' Better Call Saul ', it succeeds here in developing a very own narrative that has little more to do with its parent brand than its fans tune in because of it. That’s worth a lot in the current mass mess ”. However, she admits that one “nevertheless […] as a viewer can feel completely manipulated”. “' Pennyworth ' quickly reconciles with a charismatic protagonist who has what it takes to become a British cult figure, great supporting characters who are desperate to learn more about, and an original narrative style between the new Sherlock Holmes series , older James -Bond films and the Kingsman series ".
Web links
- Pennyworth in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Arthur Awanesjan: "Pennyworth": Season 2 of the DC series ordered. In: Filmfutter. October 31, 2019, accessed October 31, 2019 .
- ↑ Lesley Goldberg, 'Gotham' Boss Sets New Batman Prequel Series at Epix (Exclusive) In: The Hollywood Reporter , May 16, 2018, accessed April 13, 2019.
- ↑ Jennifer Maas: New Batman Prequel Series Arrives at Epix Ahead of Fox's Final 'Gotham' Season In: The Wrap , May 16, 2018, accessed April 13, 2019.
- ↑ 'Pennyworth': Jack Bannon To Star In Title Alfred Role On Epix's Batman Prequel , accessed May 19, 2019.
- ↑ Nellie Andreeva: 'Pennyworth': Jack Bannon To Star In Title Alfred Role On Epix's Batman Prequel In: Deadline , October 15, 2018, accessed April 13, 2019.
- ↑ London What's Filming: Batman Prequel Series Pennyworth In: Backstage.com , January 31, 2019, accessed April 13, 2019.
- ↑ 'Gotham' EP Danny Cannon Teases Batman Prequel Series 'Pennyworth' - TCA , accessed April 13, 2019.
- ↑ Hannah Shaw-Williams: Is Pennyworth A Prequel to Gotham? In: Screenrant. July 26, 2019, accessed October 31, 2019 .
- ↑ Vinnie Mancuso: 'Pennyworth' Trailer Reveals a Young, Sexy Alfred Doing Security for Thomas Wayne In: Collider, June 12, 2019, accessed June 14, 2019.
- ↑ DC series Pennyworth - Trailer shows Butler Alfred as British agent in the new Batman prequel series In: Gamestar on April 25, 2019, accessed on June 14, 2019.
- ↑ Pennyworth (2019-) , accessed February 10, 2020.
- ↑ Season 1 Pennyworth In: Rotten Tomatoes , accessed February 9, 2020.
- ↑ Pennyworth In: Metacritic , accessed on February 9, 2020.
- ↑ Patrik Heidmann: Superbutler In: SZ , October 28, 2019, accessed on February 9, 2020.
- ↑ Claudia Reinhard: Only the Queen has something to say to him In: FAZ , October 25, 2019, accessed on February 9, 2020.