While it continues to generate controversy, Joker has been a money-spinner for Warner Bros., with the largest opening weekend for the studio since Justice League. There’s already been speculation about a sequel, although based on what we saw in the film, it’d be difficult to figure out how Phoenix’s character could fit into a more conventionally structured Batman movie. Still, it seems that WB has definitely been inspired by the pic’s success.
According to sources close to WGTC – the same ones who told us Jonah Hill would be in The Batman and that Tom Welling was returning for “Crisis on Infinite Earths” – Warner Bros. wants to produce more standalone villain films outside of the core DCEU, with Two-Face reportedly one of the next candidates to get his own movie alongside a Mr. Freeze picture. Like Joker, this’ll be with a different actor than any other appearance of the character in the DCEU. So, we could potentially have two versions of the villain in cinemas in a few years’ time.
Of course, the character of Harvey Dent/Two-Face has already appeared in Batman Forever, and in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. He’s also been a mainstay of animated Dark Knight tales and has been explored with various degrees of seriousness in DC Comics history. On paper at least, Dent’s divided personality provides a similar canvas to the Joker’s, albeit with a more established backstory compared to the many versions of the Clown Prince of Crime we’ve seen.
A standalone Two-Face movie could take the track of exploring Harvey Dent’s psychological troubles before he receives the acid splash that disfigures him. In fact, his undercurrent of psychosis was already effectively explored in Batman: The Animated Series, where a repressed “Big Bad Harv” personality was unleashed after the attack. By contrast, Nolan’s Dent begins as a more traditionally heroic character who becomes a victim of Heath Ledger’s Clown Prince of Crime. Of course, a one-off villain movie for Dent and Two-Face could go in a completely different direction, albeit with less of the chaos of Joker.
Whichever route they choose to head down, this news only reinforces the investment going forward by Warner Bros. in Batman’s rogues gallery, from next year’s Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) to future efforts like The Suicide Squad and a Black Adam film. We’re also hearing that a Catwoman spinoff could happen, albeit as an extension of the Robert Pattinson-starring The Batman, rather than as a standalone film.
What do you think about a Two-Face movie in the vein of Joker, though? As always, let us know in the comments section down below.
