Holy prequel, Batman! Alfred Pennyworth is getting his own origin story on TV

There aren't a lot of elements of Batman's legend that haven't been explored thoroughly in the realm of film and TV. Some of them are so well-tread that they've passed into cliche (how many times have Martha Wayne's pearls bounced off the pavement in Crime Alley, or has Catwoman flirted with Batsy on a rooftop?), but others have been sidestepped or ignored in favor of focusing on the action any Batman adaptation requires.

One of those elements is Batman's alarmingly competent butler Alfred Pennyworth, who hasn't had the chance to break out and tell his story -- until Wednesday morning, when Epix announced that the channel acquired a series order of Pennyworth, an Alfred prequel series about Al forming a private security company after leaving the British special forces and meeting Bruce Wayne's father Thomas in 1960s London.

See Also: 'Metropolis' is a new TV series set before Superman becomes Superman

While Gotham creators Danny Cannon and Bruno Heller are attached to Pennyworth, the new series will not be connected to Gotham; Sean Pertwee, who plays Alfred on Gotham will not be involved with Pennyworth either, as the Alfred of the new show will be a separate incarnation of the character. It's exciting that Cannon and Heller are diving back into Batman for their next project, as their work on Gotham shows that they're very unafraid to take a "put my thang down, flip it, and reverse it" attitude towards the Batman mythos. That attitude is exactly what Batman needs when Bruce Wayne's story has been done so many times — Batman is more than a character, he's the center of an entire universe filled with interesting people, and if there's one lesson to take away from Gotham's equal emphasis on villains and heroes, it's that sometimes what's going on around Bruce Wayne is more interesting than what Bruce himself is getting up to.

It's also exciting that Pennyworth is going with Alfred's backstory as a special forces soldier who forms his own private security company, which is loosely consistent with the Alfred detailed in the popular comic series Batman: Earth One, which introduces Alfred as a close friend of Thomas Wayne who is brought to Wayne Manor to be the family's head of security after Thomas's mayoral campaign puts the family in danger. Drawing from Earth One in any capacity is a great start to any Batman adaptation, as the short and yet-unfinished series is a fan favorite.

With Gotham ending presumably next year after a shortened 13-episode season, Batman could have been left in the lurch when it comes to indulging in fresh takes on Batman's world on TV (other bat-related shows like the upcoming Titans and the recently announced Doom Patrol will live on the subscription-based DC Universe streaming service).

With Pennyworth in the works, there's the promise of a never-before-seen chapter in the story of Batman at the same bat-time, on the same bat-channel every week.