Ralph Fiennes Wants to Play Alfred in Matt Reeves’ ‘The Batman’

The Batman is set to bring an entirely new corner of the DC Universe onto the big screen, and a familiar face has expressed an interest in making it happen.

In a recent interview with HeyUGuys, Ralph Fiennes was asked if he would be willing to reprise his role as Alfred Pennyworth in the DC Extended Universe movie, after he previously voiced the character in The LEGO Batman Movie. As Fiennes revealed, he’d be more than on board with returning to the character again.

“Yes, yes. I’d love to play Alfred.” Fiennes explained. “A lot of good people have gone before me, so I’d be happy to follow in their footsteps.”

In a weird way, Fiennes would theoretically be a pretty good fit for The Batman‘s version of Alfred, seeing as the film is believed to follow a late-20s version of the titular Caped Crusader. With the last actor to play Alfred on the big screen, Jeremy Irons, being 70 years old, the 56-year-old Fiennes could compliment a younger Batman in the same way Irons did to Ben Affleck.

At the moment, there’s no telling exactly who will join the cast of The Batman, even as production is believed to begin this November. But either way, it’s safe to assume that viewers should expect the unexpected with regards to the film.

“Right now, I’m involved in The Batman,” writer-director Matt Reeves said in a recent interview. “What it will be called ultimately, I don’t know. Aquaman is going to be very different from the Todd Phillips Joker movie, and that’s going to be different from Shazam and Harley Quinn. Warners believes they don’t have to try to develop a giant slate that has to have all the plans for how it’s going to connect. What they need to try and do is make good movies with these characters.”

“It’s very much a point of view-driven, noir Batman tale,” Reeves said of his take on the Caped Crusader. “It’s told very squarely on his shoulders, and I hope it’s going to be a story that will be thrilling but also emotional. It’s more Batman in his detective mode than we’ve seen in the films. The comics have a history of that. He’s supposed to be the world’s greatest detective, and that’s not necessarily been a part of what the movies have been. I’d love this to be one where when we go on that journey of tracking down the criminals and trying to solve a crime, it’s going to allow his character to have an arc so that he can go through a transformation.”

Do you want to see Ralph Fiennes reprise his role as Alfred in The Batman? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Upcoming DC films include Shazam! on April 5th, Joker on October 10th, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) on February 7, 2020, Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5, 2020, The Batman on June 25, 2021, The Suicide Squad on August 6, 2021, and Aquaman 2 on December 16, 2022.