I Believe In Harvey Dent

Now that The Dark Knight’s viral marketing campaign is having to change directions after the unfortunate and untimely death of Heath Ledger, the first non-Joker The Dark Knight related website has been launched. I Believe In Harvey Dent centers around the political campaign of Harvey Dent for Gotham City District Attorney and what a great idea for a site, especially as we’re in the midst of a heated presidential primary. Honestly, the site looks almost identical to many campaign sites I’ve seen for local candidates and has a very realistic feel to it. Check out I Believe In Harvey Dent for yourself and make sure to cast your vote for Gotham City’s next District Attorney.


I am both pleased and disappointed that there still hasn’t been a single picture leaked of Aaron Eckhart as Two-Face. I did read a recent interview with Mr. Eckhart by Wizard Universe in which he makes it sound like that while some of the scared side of Dent’s face is make-up, a lot of it will be computer generated. This may explain why there have been no photos surfacing of Eckhart in his Two-Face costume. In the meantime, there are tons of pictures of Eckhart as Harvey Dent, the Gotham District Attorney who turns into the villain/vigilante Two-Face after having half of his face disfigured by a vial of acid. Check out Eckhart as DA Harvey Dent here.


One cool aspect of the website is that you can support the Harvey Dent for Gotham District Attorney campaign by submitting pictures of yourself promoting Dent for DA. There are already a ton of user pictures up on the site’s You In Action page with random people holding Harvey Dent signs around the country. There is even an MP3 of Harvey Dent/Aaron Eckhart pleading with the citizens of Gotham to take back their streats and elect Harvey Dent the next District Attorney of Gotham City. It’s kind of funny but definitely original...you can check out Harvey Dent’s personal challenge to the citizens of Gotham to come together and support his campaign here:

Harvey Dent – Call To Action {MP3}

Evidently there will also be a country wide tour of the Dentmobile (as seen on the I Believe In Harvey Dent website). While the site says its purpose is to “meet up with other Dent supporters and help us campaign in your streets,” it will really be going around the country to promote The Dark Knight’s summer release. (link) Check back here to see specific dates and locations of the Dentmobile’s tour. There is already a map of the cities the Dentmobile will be stopping in and it looks like Texas has three stops, Austin, College Station and thankfully Houston. This mean’s The Blot Says… will most definitely be covering the Dentmobile’s upcoming stop in the H sometime in the near future.

The Dark Knight Villains Revealed

Some exciting news on the upcoming The Dark Knight broke last week and I’ve been really itching to blog about it. For those not interested in knowing some minor spoilers (characters appearing in the movie) for next summer’s Batman Begins sequel, stop reading today’s post immediately.


Last week the Los Angeles Times published a really exciting article on the villains popping up in 2008’s The Dark Knight. (link) The secretive writer/director of the movie, Christopher Nolan, has been very tight lipped on what characters will be showing up and even what characters certain actors will be playing in the movie. As most are aware Heath Ledger is playing The Joker, but what most don’t know, according to the Nolan quote given to the LA Times, is that “The Joker, he sort of cuts through the film -- he's got no story arc, he's just a force of nature tearing through. Heath has given an amazing performance in the role, it's really extraordinary." (link)


In fact, the real focus of the story is Aaron Eckhart’s (Thank You For Smoking, No Reservations) character Harvey Dent. Dent is a very tragic figure in the Batman mythology. As a former District Attorney and ally to Batman, Dent is horribly disfigured when a vile of acid is dumped on half of his face while conducting a trial. The incident leaves Dent with a dual personality and he subsequently adopts the alter-ego of Two-Face, becoming one of Batman’s biggest adversaries. The character’s trademark is choosing to do good or evil based upon the flipping of a coin.

The character of Harvey Dent has showed up in the modern day Batman movies twice previously, once portrayed by Billy Dee Williams in 1989’s Batman and once by Tommy Lee Jones in 1995’s horrible Batman Forever. According to Nolan, "Harvey Dent is a tragic figure, and his story is the backbone of this film.” (link) While it’s been known for many months now that Eckhart would be playing Dent in The Dark Knight, there had been rumors that his role, similarly to Billy Dee Williams, would only be that of Harvey Dent. According to this report though, it can be confirmed that at some point in the movie Eckhart will make the transformation into feared villain Two-Face. This is pretty exciting news for me as the only other live incarnation of this great villain was in Batman Forever and Jones’ portrayal of this twisted psycho was played pretty much just for laughs. Then again all of Batman Forever was played for humor so Jones can’t really be faulted for his performance. But with Nolan’s realistic vision, I am expecting a much more faithful adaptation of this long time Batman villain.

Another rumor that has been circulating for months is that Cillian Murphy, who played Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow in Batman Begins, was seen on The Dark Knight set. The LA Times article finally confirms that Murphy will be reprising his role as the Scarecrow. Cillian was really great in his portrayal of the unhinged psychiatrist and I’m glad to hear he’ll be returning to the role he originated on the big screen, even if it’s just in a limited cameo.


The last line in the article really puts any fears and reservations I have about the upcoming movie at ease and pushes the memory of Batman Begins to the deepest recesses of my mind. The article states, “Don't expect a lot laughs in this summer's return to the cave. ‘It's a dark and complex story,’ Nolan said, ‘and the villains are dark and complex as well.’" Just as they should be! Sounds like music to my ears.