Even compared to the occasionally ludicrous Gotham, HBO Max’s Pennyworth: The Origin Of Batman’s Butler (formerly just Pennyworth when it was on Epix) just might be the weirdest superhero-related show of all time. The first season presented itself like a roit propah Guy Ritchie croime drawmah that just happened to be a Batman’s butler as a young man, even though portions of it were deeply, deeply zany (this writer astutely pointed out that it was like a comic book, just not one that had anything to do with Batman).
The far more entertaining second season jacked the zaniness up by significant margin by introducing a civil war in England between two secret societies that eventually exploded into full-on tanks roaming the streets of London. Also, Alfred’s side won the war with the help of a super-powered laser man and his friends Martha and Thomas Wayne (you know them!) had… a baby girl. (Batman fans will recall that Bruce Wayne is traditionally an only child, which is why the loss of his parents fucks him up so thoroughly.)
So clearly Pennyworth: The Origin Of Batman’s Butler is a show that goes to some places, but even with that mind, let us just say that you still may not be prepared for a thing that’s in this trailer for the show’s third season. Search your mind for things that might happen in a show that is ostensibly a prequel to the Batman mythos and there’s a significant chance you will never, ever be able to predict what bananas-ass comic book thing shows up here. It’s more bananas-ass than a civil war on the streets of London and the Waynes having a daughter.
It’s goddamn V from V For Vendetta! Or it’s the Guy Fawkes mask, at least, but you don’t put that mask in a DC Comics thing with what appears to be a long wig and a wide-brimmed hat without expecting people to think it’s goddamn V from V For Vendetta. It’s wild, and it’s exactly the kind of madcap nonsense that Pennyworth: The Origin Of Batman’s Butler has been pulling since it began. Honestly, we have no choice but to respect the hell out of it. We hope Alan Moore sees it and thinks it’s funny.
The new season, which will feature Batman-style grappling hooks and a lot more superpower stuff, will premiere on HBO Max on October 6.