Can We Look Forward to Jeremy Irons?

Can We Look Forward to Jeremy Irons?

Forget about Lex Luthor for a moment... we have a new Alfred.

Editorial Opinion
By Tainted87 - Jan 31, 2014 08:01 PM EST
Filed Under: Batman vs. Superman

Back when Ben Affleck was arrested for the crime of being cast as Batman, I was on this site, staying up late to try and somehow stabilize the announcement's comment section with positive feedback. I can still totally see it physically, simply by looking at Batman's Arkham model.


Ok, that's actually Hush, but he's "fixed" his face to be like Bruce Wayne. Check out that chin!

Now a lot of the editorials you will be seeing now and in the future are going to detail what everyone thinks about Jesse Eisenburg playing Lex Luthor. It is a strange casting, definitely. But it's not bad, is it? I'm a little bit on the indifferent side for the clear-cut reason being: I already knew the actor I wanted to play Lex most definitely wasn't going to be cast. We didn't get Vin Diesel, so yippee!

No, I'm going to turn this around and put Alfred under the microscope.

I think a lot of people are going to take this one for granted, and that's an awful thing. Alfred Pennyworth is Batman's father, and Bruce Wayne's surrogate father. Ever hear the expression "it takes two to tango"? Of course you have. Here we have a supporting character who is going to be shooting cynical dialogue back and forth with Ben Affleck, to the point of it becoming a game.

Those who've kept up know that I don't hold the Nolan trilogy in the highest of regard. What I do admire, however, was the dynamic between actors Christian Bale and Sir Michael Caine, which was loveable from beginning to end. What most have agreed is the best Batman movie, I'll at least point out here, held my favorite Alfred moment.
"But I did bloody tell you."
He's knowledgeable, sagely, cynical but compassionate. He lends his advice, his experience as a veteran, and speaks up at any given time he feels that Bruce is going in the wrong direction.

Michael Gough was something of an old grandfather as Alfred. We loved him for his stern expressions even in the Schumacher movies, his delivery of off-the-wall comments and asides, his sarcasm, and then the tenderness he would offer those inside Bruce's personal life. Where Sir Michael Caine was the mentor, Michael Gough was the butler.


Jeremy Irons is a favorite of mine who just isn't in enough movies. He has a great voice, a great range of facial expressions, and is apt to be the villain - my favorite role in anything. He is going to play the man I just described from Michael Gough's point of view as tender to Sir Michael Caine's cynicism. Perhaps a balance of the two, maybe either one, maybe something else entirely. Is he up to the challenge?

Yes, it is a challenge. The two aforementioned actors were kept on for a combined total of seven movies. And Alfred is not an M, a Moneypenny, or a Q who makes an appearance once or twice in a film and then abandons ship. Alfred is Bruce's only legitimate friend who he can confide everything into, who he trusts unconditionally with closely kept secrets, intelligence, and his livelihood. Can Jeremy Irons have that kind of a bond with Ben Affleck?

Absolutely.
Are we concerned about Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne coming across as overly-confident, not wanting or only pretending to listen to anything anyone has to say to him? If you are, I tell you now that you shouldn't be, because that is what we need here. An older Bruce, semi-retired or retired from Batman, who thinks he has all the answers.

And now we have Jeremy Irons to STAB through that rough exterior. It is a good day.
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ScottMontgomery
ScottMontgomery - 1/31/2014, 9:00 PM
I think Irons' Alfred is going to be based on the Alfred from the Batman: Earth One series. In that series Alfred was a gruff former Royal Marine who actually helped train Bruce, and c'mon we all want to see Affleck get bitch slapped by Simon Gruber
Firgosaurus
Firgosaurus - 1/31/2014, 9:14 PM
He is a Borgia and is an American. We can't have the devil as Alfred. It's not like the comics. He has to be an angel.
Firgosaurus
Firgosaurus - 1/31/2014, 9:15 PM
No he is not an American or a Borgia or the devil.
MrCameron
MrCameron - 1/31/2014, 9:16 PM
So fvcking happy with this casting. My favorite Shakesperean actor and just who I imagined in the role.
RobGrizzly
RobGrizzly - 1/31/2014, 9:24 PM
I think the role of Alfred is kind of... beneath the great Jeremy Irons, tbh.
No doubt he'll be amazing all the same.

Funnily, I thought the same of Michael Caine, too. I was like, "How is this prestigious talent like Caine playing the butler?" I can thank Burton's Batman for marginalizing the character, so that was the most I was familiar with when it came to Mr. Pennyworth. But upon seeing the way Alfred was used in Nolan's movies (He's literally the most important character, imo) It all made total sense to hire someone that will give the role what it needs. Same for Commissioner Gordon, who outside the comics, had been portrayed kind of bafoonish, until Gary Oldman made it right.
Pedrito
Pedrito - 1/31/2014, 10:35 PM
Alfred is not going to make or break this movie.. So yay Jeremy Irons but nerdy tiny ZuckerLex still blows.
TimDrake87
TimDrake87 - 1/31/2014, 11:01 PM
Jeremy irons was amazing in Die Hard three as simon gruber ver similar to the riddler
Odin
Odin - 2/1/2014, 1:07 AM
We are so getting the Earth One Alfred
6of13
6of13 - 2/1/2014, 5:08 AM
Yes. Yes we can.

I really like this choice.
cipher
cipher - 2/1/2014, 8:46 AM
Haha, I remember you pointed out the resemblance between Affleck, and the Arkham City Batman on the Affleck article. Heh, fun thread.. I was just dickin' around, tryin' my best to lighten the mood.

Right, so.. on topic- I love this decision, I really do. One of my favourite moments between Alfred and Bruce, was actually in The Long Halloween..

It was this scene where Bruce is standing in front of his parents' portrait, and he's lamenting the fact that things would have turned out so different if his father hadn't saved Falcone's life, and as he's leaving the room, Alfred says: "it would be as fruitless as my wondering... had I been a different sort of father to you, how better your life might be..."

Bruce couldn't hear it.. but Alfred expresses his regret anyway. Bruce walks out to the very staircase where he used to watch his father as a child, and says that he misses him, and he asks Alfred: "is that so wrong", to which he responds: "no. There's nothing wrong with that. You are very much.. your father's son".

Alfred sees Bruce for what he is, REALLY sees it, I mean. He just knows him on a level that nobody else does, and even when Bruce is being a stubborn arsehole, he's the one to stab through that, as you put it. I think in Alfred's eyes, Bruce is still that angry boy who's parents were taken from him right before his very eyes.. he's learned to support him on his "mission", of course, but he truly understands the pain, the anger that drives him. He can only hope to do his best to keep him anchored somehow. So, yeah.. there's not a doubt in my mind that Irons can pull off that balance. I'm all for it.

Anyway, I've probably rambled on for longer than I meant, so yeah.. I've always respected you, Tainted, so it's good to hear your thoughts on this.
Tainted87
Tainted87 - 2/1/2014, 7:53 PM
Thanks Cipher. Always good to have you around.
6of13
6of13 - 2/2/2014, 5:12 AM
Great example Cipher. Alfred is a physical representation of Bruce's conscience.
I am busy reading the Long Halloween again.
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