There is little doubt that Batman's true secret weapon is none other than Alfred Pennyworth. After all, Bruce Wayne's beloved companion has been with him right from the start. Unfortunately, a new comic book just killed off Alfred in one of the most shocking twists in comic history. Interestingly, Tom King has revealed that it wasn't his idea in the first place.
King, who wrote the City of Bane story arc, was recently a guest on the Word Balloon podcast where he spoke about the unexpected plot twist. Although he had initially planned for Alfred's death to be a fake-out, King admitted that DC Comics wanted him to make it permanent.
"I got the opposite of push back. I got push forward," King said.
So how exactly did it work? According to King, he had wanted to keep the ending ambiguous. However, DC Comics insisted on killing Alfred.
"I sort of had this cliffhanger where Alfred, at the end, was gonna, could perish. And I put it in the script, like, of course we'll figure this out later and he's not dead. And DC's like, 'No, why isn't he? Why's he not dead?' And I'm like, 'Well, because he's Alfred and he has to live forever because he's a fantastic character.' And they're like, 'No no no no, he's dead," King said.
The death of Alfred was truly shocking for every Batman fan considering that he is that one character who seemed untouchable for so many years. Unfortunately, the time has truly come for Alfred.
What did you think of Alfred's death in the City of Bane arc? Sound off in the comments below.
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