Movie News
The Dark Knight: Joker? Hah! Harvey Dent is the One to Watch
Posted by Michelle Graham (michelle@filmschoolrejects.com) on January 13, 2008
While everyone’s eyes are on the cackling Joker in the next Batman feature, The Dark Knight, IGN reports that Christopher Nolan, the director of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, says perhaps we should focus our attention elsewhere. The Joker may be the most high profile of the characters in Dark Knight, and it’s easy to see why. The Joker is one of the most lasting and iconic figures of pop culture, due in large part to the portrayal by Jack Nicholson in the original Batman. However,in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Nolan said:
And to fans of the comic, this makes a lot of sense. Harvey Dent (played by Aaron Eckhart) is a District Attorney for the city of Gotham, and will feature as the main villian in the next sequel, after he disintegrates into Two Face, a character last played on the big screen by Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Forever, around which time the last Batman franchise started becoming a byword for laughable. Harvey Dent himself has never really been a focus of a Batman movie, and it seems that Nolan intends to change all that, by focusing on the character before he becomes a villain and showing a more human side.
However, Nolan didn’t dismiss the Joker’s character completely whilst lauding Dent’s, he went on to say:
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18 Comments
January 13th, 2008 at 10:03 am
I’m actually very glad to hear this news and makes me even more hopeful and excited for this sequel. Two Face is a fantastic villain and that is mainly because Harvey Dent is such a great character and I think this will be really cool to see the transition from Dent in Dark Knight into Two Face in the next film.
January 14th, 2008 at 3:57 am
In Batman Forever, Two Face, aka Harvey Dent was a real joke. He was just a regular villain without any real recognition. The animated Batman series features Two Face much better than Batman Forever.
Two Face popularity will definitely rise once Nolan complete his third movie. Though the Joker is still my favorite villain, Two Face is right below the Joker.
January 14th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
Thanks for the information, interesting..
January 14th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
First of all I loved both Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman and Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of The
Joker. Still, I have to object to the author of this article referring to it as the “original”
Batman. I seem to remember a very cheesy 1966 movie and according to IMDB there was
another movie in 1943. Having not seen the earlier one I can speak for its quality and I’m
sure many die hard Dark Knight fans would like to forget the 1966 camp-fest, but let’s give
credit where credit is due. The 1989 Batman may have been the first movie to take Bruce
and his alter ego seriously but it was in no way the “original.”
January 15th, 2008 at 7:08 am
The only thing I hope is that they don’t off the Joker at the end of this one. It seems all the superhero movies have one thing in common with one single exception - every villain gets it at the end… except Lex Luthor.
I’d like to see the Joker become a constant thorn in Batman’s side through the series, either engineering things on behalf of other villains, or just plain being nasty by his little ol’ lonesome.
January 15th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Retroboy - I am with you there. I think that they should keep the Joker around so that he can resurface in the next flick. Logistically, that could cause problems if Heath Ledger isn’t signed on for more, but my sources tell me that there is an option in his contract for more films. The faith that I have in Christopher Nolan also tells me to expect the Joker to stick around a bit.
January 15th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Yep I’m wondering how Heath could beat Jack in his portrayal of the Joker..will be interesting to watch. If the concentration of the villians is the main importance of the film, is there any need for Maggie G’s involvement?
January 15th, 2008 at 10:21 am
I’m hoping that Joker gets sent to Arkham, at the end of this. So then, we can see some great Harley Quinn action.
January 15th, 2008 at 11:23 am
people have speculated or even read some places that the dr. who becomes harley quinn does make an apperance somewheres in the film. this would be an opportune time to introduce her as a ‘regular person’ and develop the big relationship b/w her and the joker.
January 16th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
I can’t see why anyone would say that the movies about Batman that were released in the 1990s were any part of the franchise at all. While I loved Jack Nicholson’s role as The Joker, I just don’t feel that he showed the real Joker. The original Joker in the comics was a twisted, hard-boiled killer and I think that he was portrayed as a comic character in that film. I feel these new filns will stay with the original storyline and as we saw in ‘Batman Returns’ we will see in the films to come the real Batman story. There is a new cartoon series that came out recently that shows the Batman story better then the five or six films we saw in the 90s. And I feel these new films will stay true to what “Batman” was really about. The makers of these new films got my attention with the first movie and I think they’ll keep it in the films to come. Batman was not a comedian and neither were the villians that make up the story.
January 17th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Hey I’m still looking forward to seeing the new Joker in the Dark Knight movie. However, I found an article that compares 3 of the more famous joker actors (i.e. Jack Nicholson and including the TV show Joker). It’s an article titled Dark Knight Joker - Will He Be Better than the Rest. Interesting comparison.
January 22nd, 2008 at 5:10 pm
R.I.P. Heath Ledger.
January 25th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Yes, I do find it curious they’re hiding Two Face so much. Could Christopher Nolan be playing a magician’s trick… teasing us with the Joker and hiding an even bigger villain?
February 16th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
I THINK THE BIGGEST JOKE OF THEM ALL ,IS THE FACT THAT THIS MOVIE IS REALLY ABOUT TWO FACE .NOBODY HAS RECOGNIZED THE FACT THAT HE IS THE MAIN VILLIAN AND THEIR HIDING HIM SO WELL.
February 19th, 2008 at 1:55 am
We Shall see!! :D Ledger looks very promising!! :)
February 26th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Ledger’s last performance will be his best. Eckhart as Dent is perfect. I can’t wait…
April 24th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
I got bored a while ago (a couple of years actually) and did this iamge of Harvey Dent. I’m pleased that there will be more of the gritty and less of the camp. The first set of movies started out almost right, but killing off the bad guys isn’t part of the comics and shouldn’t be part of the movies.
http://loresinger.com/Hourglass/gallery%20images/twoface.jpg
May 30th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Hopefully, they will do Two-Face right, not the bumbleing idiot as portayed by Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Forever.