Despite any misgivings over
Batman v Superman, many fans agreed that Jeremy Irons turned in a great performance as
Alfred Pennyworth, a role the actor will be reprising when Zack Snyder's
Justice League hits theatres next year. While we've seen Alfred interact with members of the League many times in comic books over the years, this will mark the first time it happens on film.
IGN had a chance to sit down with Irons to ask how his Alfred reacts to being surrounded by super-powered beings.
"I think he's waiting with baited breath to see what is going to happen," Irons said.
"He's in the employ of Bruce Wayne and he doesn't always agree with him but I think he'll help where he can. And I'm not sure in Justice League we'll see that much of him because we have five superheroes to deal with and Alfred is just the batman [a term for the soldier-servant of a commissioned officer in the British military] of one of them. It'll be very interesting to see where he gets to, when we get to Ben [Affleck's] production of Batman this spring. I haven't read the script of it yet. I think all of us who are sort of normal human beings, which Alfred is, we watch the gods with amazement and some spite."
Alfred will be taking a much more hands-on role than usual in
Justice League; not only will he be assisting Batman in regular fashion, but he will also be the tail-gunner on The Flying Fox, an aircraft that Bruce and Alfred have made into the League's command centre. Irons explained that Alfred's 'do anything' nature comes from a very real place.
"Yeah, Alfred is a very hands-on," the actor said.
"What I based Alfred on really was a close neighbor of mine, used to be before he died, Paul Getty. I remember the first time I went to dinner with him. I reached gates and a very kind gentleman took my car and parked it. I walked in and another very kind gentleman took my coat. And then Paul showed us through the hall and another very kind gentleman gave me a glass of champagne and then a very kind gentleman served us dinner. I learned during the evening that every kind gentleman who had been taking care of me was actually an ex-SAS member who was there to protect Paul. I thought, yeah, that's Alfred really. He's there. He'll do anything. That's where he comes from. That's his mindset. He'll wash the dishes, but he'll also be a tail gunner."
As for Ben Affleck's
Batman film,
"I'm interested and I'd hold judgement until I read the script. We will see. Ben's a great consummate director and I'll be fascinated to see what he comes up with."
Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes—Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash—it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.