Batman's Supporting Characters

[Cobblepot4Mayor]

Offhand, I can't think of a better actor for the part than Dalton. He's a fair bit taller than the Alfred in the comics, but then so were Alan Napier and Michael Caine. He's the right age and he's got the distinguished presence and well-spoken manner to pull it off.

The Dalton era of the Bond films has always been underrated. I remember reading an old review once that criticised Dalton for his "misguided" attempt to make Bond grittier and more serious. And yet nowadays critics are praising Daniel Craig – who is a lot less suave than Dalton IMO – for doing the exact same thing. Connery is still my favourite Bond, but License to Kill (1989) is probably my favourite Bond film. And 'Living Daylights' is the best Bond theme ever.

Career wise, Dalton is well positioned to take on the Alfred role. He's got cult appeal thanks to Flash Gordon (1980), The Rocketeer (1991) and the James Bond films. But he's also proven himself to be a capable 'serious' actor through a lot of his stage and TV work. And in recent years he's stepped back into the limelight playing supporting roles in successful films like Hot Fuzz (2007) and Toy Story 3 (2010). Plus there's just something inherently cool about the idea of Batman being raised by 007. Especially a Bond as gritty as Dalton's. And if Dalton's Alfred makes a throwaway remark about having been in the army or the Secret Service, the audience will believe him.

He also sounds enthusiastic about the part. So I say give him a shot.

I'm praying this rumor pays off. Too great an idea to pass. I've no shame in admitting Dalton is my favorite Bond lol That has generated much mockery over the years from my own dad. People claim he's rubbish since he only made two. Nonsense! He was also criticized for his handling of the trademark Bond humor. Coming after Roger Moore things needed to be different. I do love that moment in "The Living Daylights" where Bond visits a funfair and is shown to quite easily handle one of the shooting galleries given his job description. This whole sequence made James Bond more like a regular guy to me. Seeing him riding a roller coaster and not attending a pompous dinner party for once just helped get him away from being too much of an upper class fop. Another thing that made Dalton cooler was they got him out of the tuxedo. He gets it on in "Licence to Kill" but for most of his first outing he wears that leather jacket. Instantly the character looks cooler and fits into society better. But to maintain a bit of that Bond classiness Dalton has that simply AMAZING voice of his. Why people never latched onto any of this at the time is strange to say the least.

Yes A-Ha's theme is quite good. Do feel sorry for The Pretenders though. They had something of a showdown I believe on the title track. Their end title theme is very nice. Unfortunately in a Bond era of music that had just been hugely redefined by Duran Duran's effort their great little track wasn't going to silence A-Ha's number. I have trouble deciding which one's better. I think A-Ha's one, perhaps like Duran's, gets your adrenaline going for the adventure to follow.

So he's been 007 and then a few years ago he became a Time Lord for Doctor Who. Not just any Time Lord either, freakin Rassilon himself as revealed by David Tennant's Tenth Doctor. And he wouldn't be the first "Alfred" to have that distinction! Michael Gough played one too, high collar and everything, back in the 80's alongside Peter Davison's Fifth Doctor just before Gotham City called. This is reason enough to cast Mr Dalton lol Having him enter the Batman movie universe would be a cultural hat trick more exciting than a "Blofeld Trilogy". It'd be nice too to finally have the moustache laden Alfred of the comics and animated series. Strange that it hasn't happened since Alan Napier.

[johnnygobbs]

I'll echo the love for Timothy Dalton as Bond.  'Licence to Kill' is also my favourite pre-Daniel Craig Bond movie and Dalton's Bond deserves a reappraisal in view of the current vogue for 'gritty' and 'serious' interpretations of fictional characters.

[Azrael]

Yes, credit should be given where it's due. Dalton's Bond was maybe ahead of its time, Licence to Kill is a gritty reboot after the cartoony Moore films.

[The Laughing Fish]

There is an interesting, albeit extremely unlikely rumour on the 'net last week suggesting that Wonder Woman in her alter ego could appear.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/sep/26/wonder-woman-man-of-steel-2

I heard rumours suggesting that she could be Bruce Wayne's love interest, since the casting call for the role is calling for somebody in their twenties and "physically" strong.

[gordonblu]

I'll echo the love for Timothy Dalton as Bond.  'Licence to Kill' is also my favourite pre-Daniel Craig Bond movie and Dalton's Bond deserves a reappraisal in view of the current vogue for 'gritty' and 'serious' interpretations of fictional characters.

Licence to Kill is in my  top five Bond films along with From Russia With Love, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Casino Royale, and For Your Eyes Only.

If it is true that Dalton is Alfred, that would be pretty cool.

There is an interesting, albeit extremely unlikely rumour on the 'net last week suggesting that Wonder Woman in her alter ego could appear.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/sep/26/wonder-woman-man-of-steel-2

I heard rumours suggesting that she could be Bruce Wayne's love interest, since the casting call for the role is calling for somebody in their twenties and "physically" strong.

I welcome this but would be surprised if they do link Wonder Woman and Batman in that fashion, considering the new 52 dynamic between Supes and WW. I do prefer Bats and WW myself anyway though ala "Justice League".