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What were some of the biggest ways that you wanted to set “Pennyworth” apart from the Batman content that’s come before? Were you inspired by any “Batman” actors or other projects that have come down the line?
Heller:Â [We] didn’t have to try to keep it separate from the larger “Batman” movies, because mostly, you’re doing something different. [With those], you’re making a big superhero movie, whereas this is a character drama, a comedic character drama. We don’t want to go to spandex and leaping off roofs, because other people can do that much better.
Stephens: A lot of the inspiration was from those movies from the early ’70s, the Michael Caine movies.
Heller: Yeah, absolutely. Michael Caine was the natural template — not [a] direct template, but he was the natural portrayal of Alfie to come through. Apart from anything else, he’s the only one … All the other ones were cast by Americans. Jeremy Irons is not a butler. Jeremy Irons is posh.
Stephens: He doesn’t really sell “butler,” does he? Great actor. Not a butler.
Heller: Great actor, not a butler. Michael Caine brought the right action and the right demeanor to it, and he also brought the SAS business.
If you get a chance to cast a young Bruce Wayne, do you have a name in mind?
Heller: No. Have you got any suggestions?
Stephens: Like, as a baby?
Or as an aged-up little guy, 10, 11?
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Heller: No, ’cause we’ve already done that. I think we had the best Batman out there in David Mazouz. I’ll bring him back.
Stephens: He’s taller than you now.
Heller: Is he really?
Stephens: Yeah.
Heller: Very skinny, though.
Stephens: Oh, yeah. He’s a bit Ichabod.
Heller: Ichabod, yeah.
New episodes of “Pennyworth” Season 3 stream Thursdays on HBO Max.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
