09/05/2008
by Brian Eggert

Batman's Future, Speculation,
and the Fate of Two-Face Revealed

Warning: The following divulges key plot points to The Dark Knight. If you’re one of the four people in the world who hasn’t yet seen the film, please don’t read on, and if you do read on, don’t say I didn’t warn you. 

Just after The Dark Knight’s release, people (myself included) talked at length about the film’s somewhat ambiguous ending, asking, “Is Two-Face really dead?” I recall, just after the release of Batman Begins, director Christopher Nolan saying that he intended to make two more Batman films, making it a trilogy. He explained the second would feature The Joker, wherein around the climax Harvey Dent would become Two-Face; for the third, the duplicitous villain would carry-over and guide that narrative. Alas, Nolan must have made some alterations to his intended dramatic outline for a trilogy, because it’s official, Two-Face is dead.

Aaron Eckhart has been out promoting his new film Towelhead, due in limited release on September 12th, and recently spoke with the folks at ComingSoon.net about the chances of returning as, arguably, Batman’s most sympathetic villain: “I asked Chris [Nolan] that question and he goes, ‘You're dead’ before I could even get the question out of my mouth. ‘Hey Chris, am I…?’ ‘You're dead!’ Alright, cool.” No more reading into the fact that no one in the film actually says, “Harvey Dent is dead.” No more wondering, If Maroni survived such a high fall, why wouldn’t Two-Face? And no more analysis of the “good side” of his two-sided coin landing face up. So that’s that.

With Two-Face having fallen to his now-confirmed death, and Heath Ledger unable to return as The Joker, speculation seems to be the word of the day. Rumors are a nasty, shameful business that most media outlets deal in almost exclusively, especially when wishful thinking-like gossip is reported as fact. Alleged “sources” are all saying the same thing: Angelina Jolie is the favorite for The Catwoman and Johnny Depp is a shoe-in for The Riddler. And while both performers have expressed interest, their awareness and curiosity in said roles came about only after hearing the rumor themselves. Take statements like “in talks” with a grain of salt; there’s no truth to the buzz until it’s officially announced.

This is pipe-dream reporting at its worst, not only because Jolie is too mainstream (not to mention she doesn’t have the talent) to disappear into the iconic villainess role, but she would no doubt make the performance more about Angelina Jolie than the character. Don’t get me wrong, I love to speculate about who the next Batman villain should be, and then daydream about which actor would amply fill the imaginary role. But news reports and conjecture are two different courses entirely.

 

Continued HERE

 

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