In what can only be referred to right now as "official rumour" (I swore I'd never use that phrase...*sigh*), the part of Harvey Dent a.k.a. "Two Face" for Christopher Nolan's follow-up to Batman Begins is being hotly contested.
Having heard Josh Lucas throw his hat in the ring a while back by saying he'd love the role, in addition to fan speculation of Liev Schreiber being suited, you'd think they'd be a little closer to finding a Two Face by now. You'd be wrong.
According to Batman On Film, the latest name to be thrown into the mix to play the split persona villain is none other than Crash star Ryan Phillippe. The rumour, (and it is a rumour) had come from a reliable but pensive source a while back, and so was ignored. But now the same news has been relayed by a completely unrelated source, thus adding credibilty to the speculation.
The possible casting of Phillippe as Dent would not come as too much of a surprise in the wake of Nolan's decision to cast Heath Ledger as the Joker, and would certainly add to the already formidable acting chops duking it out on the Bat-Screen, but... and there's always a but... how would people welcome his addition to the cast? Some might complain he's not imposing enough, some might say he's perfect. Either way this is gonna cause a fuss.
Moviehole add more to the mix by explaining that Phillippe would not neccessarily be required to actually play Two Face this time round as the sequel's storyline tells of Dent teaming up with Wayne to track down the Joker. This may mean an easy entrance for Phillippe and a way to gain fan acceptance before launching full on into "schitzo mode". This would also mean of course that he would be required for a two picture option. Too big a gamble on such a high pressure movie? Or is this just what the franchise needs to do? To continue breaking the mould and enforce that grounded sense of human realism which drew people to the last movie? Personally, I'm all for it.
Introduced in Detective Comics #66, the character of Dent was a young hotshot district attorney who had sulphuric acid thrown in his face by a mob boss under his prosecution. Tormented by his tainted appearance he allowed the toss of a coin to determine his course for good or evil. When you think of it like that, Phillippe certainly has the pretty boy looks and the ice cold delivery to pull off both facets of the character. Could it happen?
