{"id":11732,"date":"2022-03-04T10:00:49","date_gmt":"2022-03-04T09:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1595739"},"modified":"2022-03-04T10:00:49","modified_gmt":"2022-03-04T09:00:49","slug":"the-batmans-andy-serkis-i-was-alfred-by-day-and-made-venom-by-night","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/the-batmans-andy-serkis-i-was-alfred-by-day-and-made-venom-by-night\/","title":{"rendered":"The Batman\u2019s Andy Serkis: \u2018I was Alfred by day, and made Venom by night\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Huw Fullerton\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 04 March 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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After playing ape hero Caesar in Matt Reeves\u2019 Planet of the Apes movies, Andy Serkis has reunited with the writer\/director for his new take on the Dark Knight. In The Batman<\/a>, Serkis is a troubled version of the caped crusader\u2019s butler Alfred, who struggles to connect with the bitter, brooding Bruce (Robert Pattinson) that goes out every night.<\/p>\n

When we caught up with Serkis he filled us in on the changed dynamic between Bruce and Alfred, where he\u2019d like to see the character go in any sequels and whether we\u2019d ever see a spin-off of his version of the character (with apologies to Pennyworth).<\/p>\n

Plus, we take a look at what\u2019s next for Serkis as a director, and how Venom: Let There Be Carnage played a big part in his Batman experience.<\/p>

There are many different versions of the Batman story \u2013 from your perspective, what would you say makes this one stand out?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think the point at which we join the story makes it original in the sense that it\u2019s not an origin story. And neither is it a kind of continuation of films past. It\u2019s set in year two, when Bruce is still yet forming and becoming the Batman.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s on this kind of solo nihilistic journey, which doesn\u2019t include Alfred. The relationship between Alfred and he is on shifting sands, and Alfred\u2019s been pushed back and pushed out, and he\u2019s struggling to kind of be the mentor that he knows he needs to be for Bruce.<\/p>\n

So then it\u2019s not conventional in terms of their relationship. It\u2019s on rocky ground, and not traditionally where the Bruce Wayne\/Alfred relationship is in terms of them, you know, on song and facing the foe together.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s also magnified in the world that they\u2019re in, in the Gotham that we have in our story, which is a world that that feels very contemporaneous and real. The corruption and the greed and the post-truth existence of the characters in this world is something that we can relate to, but it also exists as a huge mythic place and a huge mythic story. And there\u2019s the thriller aspect \u2013 it\u2019s almost a thriller that happens to be a Batman story<\/p>\n