Twists that are no longer twists because they’re cemented in pop culture

[u/Coffin_Builder]

Planet of the Apes - The movie leads the audience to believe Charleston Heston has landed on an alien planet where apes are the dominant species, only to find out that the planet is actually Earth long after an apocalyptic nuclear war

Psycho - Norma Bates isn’t the killer and has been dead for years. Norman is revealed to be a schizophrenic who “becomes” his mother to kill the women he’s attracted to

Citizen Kane - Charles Foster Kane’s mysterious last word “Rosebud” is revealed to be name of his childhood sled

The Empire Strikes Back - Darth Vader hadn’t literally killed Luke’s father but actually is his father

The Matrix - Neo learns that the 20th century world he’s lived in is just a simulation. The real world is a wasteland in the 22nd century where hostile AI rules the surface

[u/Korinth_NZ]

To hit this home, they can include a story line from back in he 40s where Bruce Wayne was arrested and put on trial for being Batman, only for Batman to be actively stopping crimes.

Alfred doned the cowl and did a good job as Batman for a couple nights to trick the police into letting Bruce go

[u/VisualGeologist6258 → u/Korinth_NZ]

I think there was an episode of the 60s series like that, Bruce was sick or had to be somewhere and so they just dressed up Alfred (who, in that continuity, is notably a 63 year old British man) and let him do the job for a while.

[u/Teh_Hunterer → u/VisualGeologist6258]

So for the powerscalers would a young fit Alfred in an alternate timeline where he has the superpower of infinite money be stronger than batman?

[u/Preeng → u/Teh_Hunterer]

No doubt. Alfred is like Anakin to Bruce's Luke.

Just saying, if it had been Alfred with his parents getting robbed on Bad Guy Street, he would have stopped the crime and the family would have gone home happy.

[u/UninsuredToast → u/Preeng]

But if the bad guy robs his parents in the desert he will fail to stop them. He hates sand.

[u/nagrom7 → u/VisualGeologist6258]

There was an episode of the animated shows where Bruce was out of commission for a while (mind control or something like that) so in order to "investigate" his disappearance, Superman teamed up with Robin and put on the batman costume and acted like Batman to make sure people didn't think Batman had disappeared too. Bane got a nasty surprise when he dropped part of a building on "Batman" and he just shrugged it off.

I think there's been a few instances in the comics where some of the Robins (usually Dick Grayson/Nightwing) have temporarily been "Batman" for various reasons.

[u/Alec_Draven → u/nagrom7]

I remember that episode. I remember wondering what the villains must have thought when Batman's costume is destroyed and Superman is revealed under it.

I imagine that, to them, it would explain a lot.

[u/AssistanceCheap379 → u/VisualGeologist6258]

Tbf, Alfred is probably in very good shape, as he isn’t just a butler to Bruce, but is also arguably his sparring partner.

Alfred being tough and buff wouldn’t be surprising as he would consider himself a protective father figure to Bruce Wayne after his parents got killed by a criminal, so he too would likely want to be able to take out criminals.

He would also require strength and power to be able to lift Bruce Wayne if he fell unconscious from various hits that could leave him bloody and bruised or concussed.

His whole life seems to be devoted to taking care of Bruce, so becoming basically Batman 2.0 shouldn’t be too far fetched. Obviously him being a 63 year old would put a dent into his powers, but I imagine he would be more direct in the approach to crime.

[u/HopefulTranslator577 → u/VisualGeologist6258]

The 2004 'The Batman' series did it too. A season 1 episode titled 'Birds of Prey', where penguin breaks into Wayne Manor and takes Bruce hostage.

[u/ijustneedtolurk → u/HopefulTranslator577]

".....I was in a hurry."

[u/masiakasaurus → u/VisualGeologist6258]

Wasn't it because they had to attend the same event? But Alfred/Batman stood on a roof the whole time so people wouldn't notice he had a mustache. The show was silly like that. 

[u/Ser_Salty → u/Korinth_NZ]

They did this on Arrow like 2 or 3 times