Aaron Eckhart is in Battle: Los Angeles this weekend and that means he’s out promoting the film, which also means everyone who interviews him has also been asking him questions about Batman. His character, Harvey Dent, was killed off in The Dark Knight sort of. Actually some people saw Harvey’s ending as leaving room for his survival and, even though Eckhart has confirmed before that Harvey Dent really did die, he’s now begun to behave cryptically when asked if he’ll be in The Dark Knight Rises.
For instance during an interview with CBS News when asked if he wouldn’t be appearing in Dark Knight Rises, Eckhart responded, “I’m not?” Then asked if he might be making a cameo in the film he responded even more cryptically by telling the reporter, “I could not possibly say.”
Later during the Battle: LA junket on Thursday he continued to be coy. He confirmed that, “Harvey Dent is dead,” again, but then went on to be cryptic, When asked if he’s involved in the next film Eckhart responded with, “How can I possibly answer that question? That would be career suicide.” And then when asked if he’d talked to director Christopher Nolan about being in The Dark Knight Rises responded with, “I won’t say that, but I will say Harvey Dent is dead.”
Confused? Maybe that’s his intention. Bottom line here, it’s good for Aaron Eckhart’s career if people ask him about Batman, because it helps get his name out there. If he tells people to stop asking and really shuts this whole thing down, then his name gets out in the media just a little bit less. I call this the Arrested Development syndrome. That’s probably what’s going on here. After all awhile back he flat out told everyone here that he’d asked Nolan about the movie and was told he wouldn’t be in it.
I suppose there’s another possibility here. Maybe Nolan has changed his mind and Eckhart will get some sort of cameo, or maybe appear as Harvey Dent in a flashback. I doubt it. We’ll keep covering it if there’s any definitive on the Aaron Eckhart front, but for now, it’s time to let Harvey Dent go, even if Aaron Eckhart doesn’t want to.
