Alfred Pennyworth Actors Ranked
A couple weeks ago, The Batman dropped in theaters. So with that being said I have one more Batman related ranking that I wanted to do. And that is rank all of the live action Alfred’s, let’s get started!
5. Alan Napier (Batman the Movie): He fits the tone and the vibe of the 1966 movie. But he’s not one that I grew up with. I was born in 2004, just before Michael Cain became Alfred. And I was about 12 when Jeremy Irons started to be Afraid. So I don’t have that sense of nostalgia that others might have with this version of the character. He’s not bad by any means, Alan Napier does a perfectly fine job in the role. But he’s not memorable, he doesn’t give off any Alfred vibes. Like I didn’t get an Alfred vibe from in this movie. Plus, he’s not in the movie all that much. He has maybe less than 5 minutes of screen time. So there isn’t much to go off of here. He’s fine, but he also is pretty forgettable in my mind.
4. Andy Serkis (The Batman): Now this is one that with more movies he could easily move up on this list. Because Andy Serkis is a great actor he plays well off of Robert Pattinson’s more broken version of Bruce Wayne. He’s this man that is trying to help Bruce, be that father figure in his life. But Bruce keeps on pushing him away, Serkis is great at that. But the thing that holds him back is that he doesn’t have a lot of screen time. He’s in the opening 20 minutes of the movie, then he disappears for a bit. Comes back for a little bit, then isn’t in the back half of the movie. So he has maybe 10-15 minutes of screen time. So he felt like the most underused character in The Batman, but still a good version of the character.
3. Michael Gough (The Burtonverse): Now this is one of the more iconic and most memorable versions of the character for me. And he’s the Alfred that has appeared in the most movies, that being 4. And we’ve seen him entract with 3 different Batman with Keaton, Kilmer, and Clooney. He does have these moments of snarkiness here and there that do make me chuckle just a little bit. And I think this character is best used with Michael Keaton’s Batman. I think that is where they have the best chemistry and the best Bruce Wayne and Alfred dynamic. He doesn’t have this big character arc, he doesn’t grow through-out the 4 movies. But he is a nice supporting character across the 4 Batman movies that he was in.
2. Jeremy Irons (The DC Extended Universe): A very different version of the character than other versions of this list. And when I say different, I mean that as a positive. This is probably the one Alfred that makes me feel like he would beat me up. The other Alfred’s are more sweet and caring. But here he’s probably the snarkiest of the Alfred’s where he talks back to Bruce about his crap. Of course, Jeremy Irons is a world class actor and can play this version of Alfred very very well. Also, in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ben Affleck wrote some of the dialogue between Bruce and Alfred and you can feel that in this movie. It’s great dialogue. So I’m not sure if we will see this version of Alfred again, maybe in Batgirl. But as of now he’s still a great version of the character.
1. Michael Caine (The Dark Knight Trilogy): Michael Caine as the character is the one that I grew up with. He’s the one that I have the most nostalgia for. And when I think of Alfred, I think of this version of the character. And he’s a partner to Batman, he helps Batman all through-out the trilogy of movies. Plus, he’s a father figure to Bruce Wayne and one that Bruce Wayne looks up to. You feel like this character would be a father figure to Bruce Wayne. This trilogy of movies aren’t comedies with a bunch of jokes. But he does get some nice one liners here and there that do work for me. Plus in The Dark Knight Rises he brings most of the emotional weight.
There you have it, my ranking of the Alfred Pennyworths. Which one of these is your favorite? Thanks for reading!
Comments