3. Alfred Pennyworth
When We First Saw Him... BatmanBegins (2005)/The
Dark Knight (2008) Alfred Pennyworth is arguably the best character in Christopher Nolan's series of super serious Batman movies. As played by Michael Caine, he's the guy throughout the whole trilogy that we all love, 'cause he isn't afraid to say what we, the audience, are thinking. As Bruce Wayne's butler and best friend, he serves his master well and treats him like the son he never had. In
The Dark Knight, when The Joker threatens to murder people unless Bruce unveils his true identity, Alfred is the one who stops him from revealing himself: "Endure, Master Wayne," he says. Take it." His opinion, then, is that Batman shouldn't negotiate with terrorists - he also believes in Batman as a symbol, as somebody who can "make the choices no one else can."
When We Next Saw Him... The Dark Knight Rises (2012) Well, either Alfred is a liar, too passive for his own good, or Christopher Nolan didn't go back and read his previous screenplays before writing the third installment, because Alfred is a completely different character in the final
Dark Knight flick, though a lot of people probably didn't notice it. Trust me when I say that it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. When Bane arrives to terrorise Gotham and Bruce decides that it might be time to get his raspy voice going again, Alfred explains that he is totally against Batman's return. Why? He's been pro-Batman since forever. The man even quits his position because Batman is coming back for some reason, and reveals that he's secretly
always wished that Bruce would give up being Batman. In a sad speech, he also reveals that he didn't even want Bruce come home prior to the events in
Batman Begins, apparently, 'cause he wanted him to start a family or something. And yet when Bruce had the choice to give up being Batman in
The Dark Knight, it was old, innocent Alfred who told him to endure and stick with his superhero. Alfred, then, is essentially a completely different person in this movie - just because he's talking in a Cockney accent and looks like Michael Caine doesn't mean that this impostor is the real deal. How can he be, when the man can't make up his Goddamn mind?