13 comic book movie and TV show characters with wasted potential

Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth

Alfred Pennyworth is easily the most important person in Bruce Wayne and Batman’s life. Without him, Bruce would have fallen down a dark path as a child. More than that, he’s one of the reasons that Batman hasn’t killed anyone.

He’s more than just his butler. He’s his father. Alfred also bears the responsibility of making certain Batman and Bruce Wayne remembers that they’re mortal. All of this is usually done with care (or a snarky remark), and Jeremy Irons was a great choice to bring it all to life. Too bad it was short-lived.

Besides Jeremy Irons being a terrific actor, he was a fantastic Alfred. He may not have looked like the old and sometimes frail looking Butler from some of the previous movies and cartoons, but that worked. Seeing a stronger Alfred help Batman made more sense. It didn’t appear as if  Bruce was doing the heavy lifting on his own. He had a partner who could help him in multiple ways, and you could see he really needed him for more than moral support.

This is disappointing because Jeremy Irons could have been part of the DCEU even without Ben Affleck’s Batman. There’s no doubt that Andy Serkis is going to be a good Alfred in The Batman but it would have been great to see Irons playing the comic book character for more than a couple of movies.