Batman Vs Superman: 7 Key Details To Make Jeremy Irons The Definitive Alfred

3. History Without The Waynes

Again, Caine also alluded to a past away from Wayne Manor. His time in the military, traveling abroad, tasting the various flavors of the world before settling at Wayne Manor for good - this is an important side to Alfred that has really only been alluded to in the films. Just as the origin of Batman has been told and retold throughout a long publication history in the comics (with Year One, Earth One, Zero Year and others falling in the last 30 years), other members of the DC Universe enjoy varying histories as well. Alfred is no exception, so there's no reason not to go bold in painting the Jeremy Irons version of the character, should the story require it, by giving him rich experiences away from the Wayne Family. Do I think we'll get an Alfred origin story? No. And is Alfred Begins a movie we'd even want to watch? Likely no. But a glimpse of his past, shown explicitly or shown in more subtle ways by Irons within his performance, would go a long way to making his Alfred a three-dimensional character. Many works of art can be judged by the strength of their secondary characters, and a major qualm with Man of Steel was that people like Lois Lane and Perry White were weakly drawn. It's partly up to the writers to make sure Alfred doesn't follow suit, but Irons certainly has a job to do here as well.