When you see Christopher Nolan’s vision of Two-Face up on screen in The Dark Knight, you have no idea and you’re going to vomit. This is basically what Aaron Eckhart is telling fans in a new interview with the LAT. He also peels back more of the villain’s “vigilante” psyche, leading us into slight spoiler territory. But first, let’s get to the “GROSS!” part…
“I can tell you that, basically, when you look at Two-Face, you should get sick to your stomach. Being the guy under all that, well, that was a lot of fun for me. It’s like you would feel if you met someone whose face had pretty much been ripped off or burned off with acid. …There are fans on the Internet who have done artist’s versions of what they think it will look like, and I can tell you this: They’re thinking small; Chris is going way farther than people think.”
That dimple in his chin might never look the same. :’( Note that he mentions “acid” above, as a debate continues on the interwebs regarding a scene from the latest trailer where Harvey Dent’s face encounters a gasoline-like substance. Interesting. Now for the spoiler (update: some readers feel this is a HUGE MEGA-SPOILER). Do not continue if you do not want to know how TDK’s Batman is different from Two-Face, and the fate of one character, thanks.
“The difference between Batman and Two-Face is how far they are willing to go and how they make their point,” Eckhart said. “Otherwise, we’re talking about vigilante crime-fighting. That’s what Batman is all about. He has a strong sense of justice. And Harvey Dent has an extremely strong sense of justice. His fiancée is killed. He’s horribly injured. But he is still true to himself. He’s a crime fighter, he’s not killing good people. He’s not a bad guy, not purely.”
Yeah, but Eckhart thinks the film sucks, right? No way…
“It’s not simple, and it gets ugly. I think people will be surprised.”
Discuss: Will Two-Face’s face be nastier than the mugs of Fred Krueger and Noriega combined? Awesome.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:40 am
“His fiancée is killed.”
Is that the Rachel Dawes character??? I assume that Batman doesn’t save her then?
Interesting.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:50 am
Yeah that’s what I thought too Art. That’s a pretty big spoiler if you ask me. About 8/10 on the Jezzus scale, lol.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:52 am
BOLLOCKS thats a big spoiler. still, at least they’re taking two face in an interesting direction.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:54 am
Oh and about his face…..
I bet when we see his face in the film he’s going to turn slowly and reveal something between a cross of sarah Jessica Parker’s foot face and Julia Robert’s Horse face. Only something that hideous could be what Eckhart is talking about.
YUCK!
May 5th, 2008 at 10:57 am
I’m so glad we got a Batman series back on track. Ledger’s untimely death sucks, but I think this series can continue for 1-2 more movies as long as Nolan stay on board and doesn’t get sloppy. Two-face needs to have a lucky coin of some sort to hold true enough to the comics - I doubt I need to mention it, I’m sure its respectful to the roots of Batman
May 5th, 2008 at 11:02 am
Spoilers ahead…
“His fiancée is killed. He’s horribly injured. But he is still true to himself. He’s a crime fighter, he’s not killing good people. He’s not a bad guy, not purely.”
I’m surprised that such a big spoiler has been leaked. Especially when you consider there’s a fairly visible clip of Rachel Dawes being dropped by the Joker in the recent trailer.
I found about this yesterday when I put two and two together and it pissed me off no end. I know too much about this film now thanks to random comments and leaked photos. The internet can be amazing sometimes (easy access to content, the virals etc), and in other times it can be a hinderance (leaked spoilers, oversaturation etc). I think TDK is a great example of both cases.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:06 am
is there any pictures of two face yet?
in the new trailer or anything because i dont recall them.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:25 am
BxA…
In the new trailer, at 2:03, you can see a very, very small portion of Two-Face. It looks more like a burn… but there really isn’t much to go by. I downloaded the HD trailer just to see if it was any more clear… but it wasn’t.
It’s the small victories… though.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Seriously, /Film, you could say “GIANT FRICKIN’ SPOILER AHEAD WATCH YOURSELF.” When you say 5/10 I think “ok, they may go into detail about how he gets scarred” or something like that. Not telling us Rachel Dawes dies. Thanks a lot.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
@ dopiestghost
Lol. I agree, but we don’t know FOR SURE if Rachel Dawes is, in fact, Dent’s fiancee. Maybe he’s recovering from his fiancee’s death at the beginning of the movie and then meets Rachel Dawes.
May 5th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
@Jake
I’ve tried to convince myself of that too. But we all know from the trailer and the story structure that it’s going to be Dawes.
I’m beyond disappointed with /Film. Their spoiler warning was “Do not continue if you do not want to know how TDK’s Batman is different from Two-Face, thanks.” There’s no mention it would be a GIANT PLOT POINT.
What an irresponsible way to tag your article. Yes, I know the LA Times has it up without spoiler warnings but you’re dealing with “sophisticated” fans (in the sense that we know more than your average moviegoer) and just throwing this up here so casually is a letdown. Maybe they can just show us Two Face’s look without a warning, too
May 5th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
@ spoiler comments
Updated.
May 5th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Thanks. I mean, I’m glad other people have been warned. Too bad it’s too late for me and the movie I’ve been most anticipating. I don’t like you, not that you care, and I still think you suck.
May 5th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
I’m no expert in film-making, nor am I a psychoanalyst. But when you think about it, the death of Rachel Dawes really isn’t that much of a spoiler. There would have to be something that pushes Dent’s psyche over the edge.
Yes, I know, “Sam, he’s pretty friggin’ scarred from [insert cause of him becoming Two-Face in the movie here]. Isn’t that enough to drive him nuts?”
Not necessarily. If Rachel survives (and assuming she stays with him), he’d be a horribly disfigured district attorney with self-loathing issues but with a girl that helps him stay sane, therefore eliminating his need for excessive justice and vengeance. So, we know there’s something in the plot that drives Harvey bonkers.
And that momentary shot in the trailer of Dawes getting dropped is a pretty massive something. So, you can see it coming just by the mention of having Two-Face in the next movie(s).
Again, not an expert and not a psychoanalyst by any means. Just made sense to me that Rachel Dawes wasn’t going to survive this movie, and why she needed to go, because:
1. It pushes Dent’s psyche in the appropriate direction to become Two-Face.
2. It (likely) drives Bruce to continue his fight, knowing he’s not able to stop now that worse elements have entered the picture.
3. There’s now an emotional wedge driven between Bruce and Harvey. Something more for them to fight over outside of just their ideals on justice vs. vengeance.
*Shrug* Of course, I could just be thinking about this too much. LOL
May 5th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Thought about it and I’m sorry I said you suck. That’s chidlish. I’m just tiffed to have been mislead and reading something I otherwise would have skipped.
May 5th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
@Sam R
First of all, I don’t think Rachel being tossed off the building was a huge moment. In the Spider-Man trailers Mary Jane is constantly being thrown off roofs. You don’t actually expect her to go “splat.” I know I didn’t. Especially with Batman testing all this new “flying’ gear throughout the trailer.
Second, in The Long Halloween, Harvey’s wife isn’t killed but he still goes bonkers. So, while I appreciate how Rachel’s death would add to this — all you said is spot on — I could MUCH rather have discovered it throughout the course of the movie.
May 5th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
@dopiestghost:
No-no-no…I meant a pretty big something in terms of the “something in the plot that drives Harvey bonkers” area.
But good point on the Dent comment. I do remember that, and vaguely recall him just leaving because he didn’t want her to have to deal with taking care of him. I could be wrong in recalling that.
May 5th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
@ /Film and speculators that Dawes is Dent’s fiancee
Simply lol. What I love about this site is that they take into account readers’ comments. MEGA-SPOILER!! Very nice, though. I don’t know if any of you guys are familiar with the CHUD website, but of the guys there wrote a short article on the new poster for The Dark Knight, and, in the process, mentioned how Batman Begins is fatally flawed. All of the readers were outraged (including myself), causing the writer to write another article in his defense. What is funny is that he didn’t allow user comments on that second article!
I still don’t know what to think of the whole fiancee thing. I’ve only recently begun to truly delve into the Batman world (comics, etc). I did read The Long Halloween, and yeah, Harvey’s wife is still alive at the end. I just don’t think that Nolan would give away this much info (Eckhart either) before the movie has premiered. I don’t think that Dent, at the beginning of this film, is fine and dandy. I think that his fiancee has already died, and he finds comfort in Rachel, and they date. Maybe I’m all wrong and Rachel is the fiancee that dies. I guess what I’m trying to say is that even if Rachel is the fiancee that Eckhart is referring to in the LA Times article, there is still so much not told to the story. My personal take is that Rachel is not his fiancee, and that the scene of the Joker throwing her off the building does not lead to her death…it just doesn’t seem like a Nolan thing to do…that would be more of a scape-goatish way of getting rid of someone…Nolan is better than that.
This film is a puzzle right now, with only a couple of pieces fit into place, and that’s what I enjoy about Nolan and TDK. The movie will simply blow people away because of its ingenuity and unpredictability. Sorry, this was a bit long-winded.
May 5th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Oh my god, considering how prevalent the internet has become in movie making (viral marketing, spoilers, etc.), you’d think if people were really committed to being completely un-spoiled on a film they would stay off the freaking internet.
Or at least refraining from looking up anything about the film.
Or just, y’know, when something says spoiler, or ‘if you want to see the unblurred version, click it. If you’re a big whiney sissy that thinks everything’s a spoiler–then hey guess what?! don’t click it!’
JEEZUS. The chick always DIES. Its not that big a surprise, happens in LOTS of movies, especially superhero ones.
May 5th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
omgawd hunter, what a HUGE GIANT spoiler that was, TOTALLY not a good enough warning. i hope you know i killed myself over that. its all on your hands, you ruined the most important pivotal point in the entire batman series… but seriously, this movie looks awesome, im glad that comics are getting such good treatments. hopefully we can say the same about video game adaptations soon too.. and if it wasnt clear with the sarcasm earlier, that wasnt a big spoiler, it was like a 5 out of 10 in my opinion.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
@Rachel and big daddy
You can mock me for over-reacting. I’m a big boy and I can take it. But to deny that revealing a major character dies is a big spoiler so please don’t pretend like it’s not.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
You can also make fun of me for bad grammar. What I meant to say is:
Revealing that a major character dies is a big spoiler, please don’t pretend it’s not.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
I hope Two-Face looks scarier than Edward James Olmos’ mug.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
@ Jake: That would make sense. Gives both Dawes and Dent something that draws them to each other: Dawes having the comfort of someone stable in her life (more or less) and Dent seeing someone that COULD replace his loss.
Or we could be way off.
LOL At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if Maggie Gyllenhaal dies, only to find out she was a clone of the real Rachel Dawes (exposed at the end as being Katie Holmes), where she goes on to convert Joker and Two-Face to Scientology.
In any case, I’m looking forward to the movie. :)
May 6th, 2008 at 6:06 am
POSSIBLE TWO FACE LEAKED PHOTO!?!?!?!?!?!!? LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!
http://themovingpicture.net/is-this-the-dark-knight%e2%80%99s-two-face
May 6th, 2008 at 6:28 am
Everyone calm down, sit back, and relax. 72 days and we can all sit down and enjoy this movie. For now, I am not reading anything else about it, because this movie has huge potential to be destroyed by the internet. F*&^ the internet.
May 6th, 2008 at 8:48 am
wait so harvey dent is a good guy even after two-face?
NOOOOOO!
hes suppose to be bad!
May 6th, 2008 at 9:36 am
Alan; well he is “two-faced”, it can all be at the flip of a coin.
And whose to say that Dents fiancée doesn’t die in the beginning of the film or shown in flashback? Maybe she was working at the bank the Joker robs in the prologue? Who knows. I would think Nolan and Eckhart have the sense to keep as much as they can quiet but it’s all relative. Honestly I would rather have Rachel Dawes killed then just disappear like Vicki Vail.
May 6th, 2008 at 10:36 am
you know….most of the viral sites talk about some girl that has been killed in the gang violence. maybe this is dent fiance’e. i dont remember how old they said she was (if they did). or it could be info not yet on the viral sites. aaron has been very cautious baout what he says….several interviews have included the words “i cant go into that yet.” so im guessing it was approved for him to say that.
May 6th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
If they kill Dawes it would be very late in the film. Eckhart says his fiance dies first, then he is horribly injured or disfigured. His fiancé’s death, which is not Dawes, is the reason why he decides to fight crime in the city, run for office, and the reason why he does not turn into a villain when disfigured. Aaron wouldn’t just spill such a HUGH spoiler. Use reason people.
May 6th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
@ Brian
That’s exactly what I think as well. Nolan and Eckhart would not give that away.
May 6th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
they just released the first photo on WWTDD its disgustingly awesome