Hugh Laurie
Another high-profile TV figure, Hugh Laurie was the reigning king on the box for eight years as maverick physician Gregory House. Arrogant, abrasive, and unpredictable, it was something, however, of a reinvention from his breakout role as amiable buffoon Jeeves in Jeeves and Wooster. While his costar, Stephen Fry, may be too large a personality for this list, it’s believable that six-time Emmy nominee Laurie could subsume himself in the part of Bruce’s droll attaché. If nothing else, his Alfred would be eminently watchable.
David Bowie
Thinking outside the box, David Bowie may have achieved legendary status as a gender-bending glam rocker, but, as his musical career encapsulates, he’s shown nothing if not the capacity for reinvention. Kicking off his acting career as the otherworldly lead in The Man Who Fell to Earth, Bowie also captured the eccentric brilliance of Nikola Tesla in The Prestige. A lean, pencil-mustached Bowie could do wonderful things with Alfred, the danger being, of course, that his inherent magnetism might distract from Affleck’s jawline.
Michael Keaton
Perhaps the most unlikely figure on this list, Michael Keaton’s tenure as the Dark Knight helped to bring the character out of the campy Adam West era and closer to Nolan’s gritty take. Gothic and quirky, Keaton has sort of dropped off the radar in recent years, despite a supporting role in The Other Guys and plenty of voice work. Having never quite hit the big time again – though his antagonistic role in the upcoming Robocop remake looks promising – DC could honor its debt of gratitude to him by casting him as Bruce Wayne’s older compatriot, as well as being a nice wink to the fans.
Donald Sumpter
Donald Sumpter began his career in 1968 in Doctor Who episode “The Wheel in Space” and hasn’t been off our screens since then. As Maester Luwin in Game of Thrones, Sumpter showed a quietness and resolve that immediately suggest him for the part of Alfred. Skinny and bald-headed, almost bird-like, Sumpter is almost a diminutive figure, but his world-weary doggedness seizes upon something vital to the character: for all he endures, Alfred is shrewd and he never gives up.
Charles Dance
Another great British thesp who’s gained something of a profile in recent years, Charles Dance is currently appearing as the witheringly supercilious head of the Lannister clan, Tywin, in Game of Thrones. Dance has a long and storied history of playing villains, like the cartoonishly evil hitman Benedict in Schwarzenegger’s Last Action Hero. Previous incarnations of Alfred have tended more towards cuddly, but Charles Dance could be just the man to give Affleck’s Bruce a boot up the backside when he’s feeling down.
Christopher Lloyd
Another addition to the perhaps underrepresented Yankee contingent on this list – hey, the last Batman was Welsh – Christopher Lloyd is one of those actors who seems to have been old forever. His role as shorn-headed, unruly mental patient in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, all the way back in 1975, set a precedent for the general craziness to follow. As the demented Uncle Fester and crackpot inventor Doc Brown, Lloyd achieved a mad uncle vibe that, if transferred over to Alfred Pennyworth, could really serve to brighten up the film.
Approaching the end with Part 5…
