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What is The Batman: Part II all about? That’s the question that millions of DC fans are now asking as cameras have started rolling on the sequel. Director Matt Reeves is back at the helm, directing from a script he co-wrote with Mattson Tomlin (Project Power, Terminator Zero); once again, Reeves has managed to assemble a cast that mixes some of the biggest stars and character acting talent around, with Robert Pattinson’s Batman being joined this time by Sebastian Stan (Thunderbolts) as Harvey Dent, Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow) as his wife Gilda, and Charles Dance (Game of Thrones) as Harvey’s father, Christoher Dent. ‘
Having Harvey Dent come as a package deal with his wife and father is a major change of pace for a Batman movie. Dent has been featured in each iteration of the Batman movies made by Tim Burton, Joel Schumacher, and Christopher Nolan, and more often than not, his alter-ego, Two-Face, comes along with him. But is Matt Reeves going the route?
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Sebastian Stan Hints That Two-Face Is In The Batman: Part II
Sebastian Stan is at Cannes promoting his film Fjord. According to Deadline‘s reporting, “Soon he’ll be in London (over summer) for Matt Reeves’ The Batman: Part II, where he’ll play ‘many roles in this one.’”
Stan was asked how he feels about the role, “taking on Two-Face,” and “working with the hair and makeup teams who have devised how his disfigurement will look.” According to Stan, “I’m nervous and trying to keep surprising myself.”
In Batman lore, Harvey Dent becomes Two-Face after he is disfigured by acid during an attempted assassination by Gotham’s Maroni crime family. The physical disfigurement also scarred Harvey’s mind, allowing a respressed secondary persona to surface and battle for dominance over Harvey’s consciousness. Tim Burton never got past the Harvey Dent version of the character (played by actor Billy Dee Williams); conversely, Joel Schumacher skipped the Harvey Dent portion and went to Tommy Lee Jones’ unhinged Two-Face in Batman Forever. Only Nolan tried to capture the entire arc of Harvey Dent becoming Two-Face in one film (The Dark Knight); while many loved Aaron Eckhart’s performance, the Two-Face portion of The Dark Knight is often criticized as being an extraneous part of the film.
So how will Matt Reeves approach the challenge of Two-Face? There are a lot of indications that some classic Batman stories, like The Long Halloween, will be inspirations for The Batman: Part II, and that story made Harvey Dent/Two-Face a major subplot of its story, with Gilda Dent also heavily involved in how and why her husband ends up becoming what he does. The presence of Christopher Dent also suggests that the backstory of Harvey Dent, and the psychological roots that Two-Face grows from, will be explored more than they have in previous films. The other part of Long Halloween that could be relevant to The Batman 2 is Two-Face becoming a bridge between Gotham’s old era of mob rule and the new era of supervillain “freaks” that rise up in Batman’s wake. Some rumors point to Two-Face getting two films, and the villain’s larger arc playing out in The Batman: Part III.
What do you want to see from Sebastian Stan’s Two-Face in The Batman Universe? Let us know on the Forum! The Batman: Part II has a release date of October 1, 2027.
The Batman: Part II’s New Logo Features A Major Change From the First Film (But What Does It Mean?)
