Pennyworth creator explains reason behind ruthlessly mocked title change

‘They just thought it was about a bloke who left the army,’ series creator said

The creator of the DC Comics series Pennyworth has revealed the reason behind the widely ridiculed title change.

Earlier this year, it was announced that the series would be retitled Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman’s Butler for its third season, prompting a wave of derision on social media.

Speaking at New York’s Comic Con, series creator Bruno Heller outlined the thinking behind the change.

“HBO Max did their research, and they discovered a fair few people who had watched and enjoyed the first few seasons of Pennyworth, but had not realised it was about Batman,” he told EW.

“They just thought it was about a bloke who left the army.”

He went on to describe this lack of context as “a bit of an error, in terms of our conceptualisation”.

“It became clear that [changing the name] was just a sensible, matter-of-fact thing to do,” Heller continued. “We came up with a thousand versions of that: The Journey of Batman’s Mentor, The Life of Batman’s Guardian. But the simplest thing is best.”

When the new title was first announced, fans piled in with mockery on Twitter.

‘Pennyworth’ focuses on Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne’s faithful manservant (Epix Television)

“That is the funniest title I’ve ever heard good job,” wrote one person.

“It’s hilarious that WB has concocted this preposterous title to highlight who the hell Pennyworth is in reference to when they could’ve just called this show ‘Alfred’,” another suggested.

Pennyworth returns to HBO Max in the US this month. In the UK, the series airs on StarzPlay.