Since it takes place several years before Bruce Wayne’s birth, Pennyworth is fairly light on recognizable DC Comics fixtures. Regardless, it does feature one major supporting character in the form of Thomas Wayne, the man who becomes Batman’s father. Ben Aldridge brings the elder Wayne to life on the new show, which premieres Sunday, July 28 on Epix. Even though the star of the series is the titular butler-to-be, Aldridge has bold ideas for where his own character could go. In fact, he wants to take on the mantle of the Dark Knight himself.
Via ComicBook.com, Aldridge was asked about Thomas Wayne’s role in DC’s Flashpoint crossover. In that series, a change in the timeline caused Bruce Wayne to be the sole victim of Joe Chill’s mugging. After Bruce’s death, Thomas became Batman and his wife, Martha, descended into madness and became the Joker. Not surprisingly, Aldridge is very open to exploring this storyline on Pennyworth.
“Yes, where I get to be the badass,” said Aldridge. “Yes, of course I would! I’ve mentioned it to [Pennyworth creator] Bruno [Heller] a couple of times and he’s just laughed at me, so I don’t know, but we get to see a darker version of Thomas Wayne for sure in this. It’s not all upstanding citizen. We see elements of Batman’s darkness that live within him, and we see glimpses of that throughout our series, so that’s a good thing to look out for, actually.”
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Flashpoint was loosely adapted for an event set in The CW’s Arrowverse. But since Batman’s TV rights are rather complicated, Thomas Wayne obviously couldn’t make an appearance. The upcoming Flash film was also rumored to be translating this storyline. However, that movie remains in a seemingly endless state of flux.
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Recommended Reading: Flashpoint
