One of the biggest loose ends from Tim Burton’s Batman films could finally be addressed in the upcoming continuation comic series.
As the entire DC publishing line prepares to launch its eagerly anticipated Infinite Frontier era, DC surprised fans with the announcements the beloved cinematic worlds of Batman and Superman — starring Michael Keaton and Christopher Reeve, respectively — would be continued in separate digital comics miniseries launching this July. Writer Sam Hamm, the scritper behind Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman, will be joined by artist Joe Quinones to continue the iteration of the Dark Knight that abruptly came to an end with 1992’s Batman Returns. And with this new miniseries, the creative team has a chance to fulfill a long-standing plot thread that’s gone unresolved since 1989: Billy Dee Williams’ Harvey Dent transforming into the villainous Two-Face.
Williams’ appearance in the 1989 Batman was short but memorable. He briefly appeared as Gotham City’s newly appointed District Attorney, working with Mayor Borg and Police Commissioner James Gordon to combat the growing crime wave that besieged the city. Harvey was initially skeptical of early reports of Batman’s activities, declining to comment on the rumors of a winged vigilante on the loose when approached by Gotham Gazette reporter Alexander Knox at a benefit party thrown at Wayne Manor by Bruce Wayne. At the end of the film, Harvey unveils the Bat-Signal with Gordon at a public event, reading a written statement attributed to the Caped Crusader before Gordon turns on the light for the first time as Batman quietly observes from the rooftops of Gotham.
While Burton had cast Williams with the intention for his portrayal of the character to eventually transform into Two-Face, and Williams himself looking forward to taking on the villainous role, it was not meant to be. An early version of Batman Returns planned story penned by Hamm included a small appearance for Harvey, setting up him to play a larger role in a potential sequel before rewrites by Daniel Waters omitted the character entirely. Unhappy with how dark Batman Returns took the film’s tone and disappointed by the box office reception in comparison to its predecessor, Burton was asked by the studio to simply take on a producer role for the following sequel rather than direct it.
New director Joel Schumacher would recast the role with Tommy Lee Jones for 1995’s Batman Forever, with the character having already been transformed into Two-Face at the start of the film. Two-Face’s transformation was reduced to a newscast that briefly showed him being attacked with acid in the courtroom.
Ultimately, Billy Dee Williams did portray Two-Face on the big screen in 2017’s The Lego Batman Movie, but his larger cinematic destiny as a serious Two-Face went unfulfilled.
The announcement for Batman ’89 included a tease that Quinones would deliver a special vision for Two-Face in the miniseries, which means that Williams’ depiction of the character will finally get the chance to transform into the fan-favorite supervillain is all but guaranteed. Concept art by Quinones for the digital comic reveals an older Bruce Wayne, visibly graying at the temples, suggesting a time jump where Harvey may have transformed into Two-Face in the interim.
Nearly 30 years since the release of Batman Returns, DC is about to take fans back to the world envisioned by Hamm and Burton all those years ago. While there are many things audiences can look forward to revisiting in the digital comic continuation, the return of Billy Dee Williams’ Harvey Dent and transformation into Two-Face is one of the biggest unfulfilled promises from the original 1989 film. And while this isn’t the same as seeing Williams as Two-Face on the big screen, Hamm and Quinones still seem set to bring the original vision of the character’s villainous fate to life.
Written by Sam Hamm and illustrated by Joe Quinones, Batman ’89 goes on sale digitally on July 27, with print issues planned to launch in August before being collected in a hardcover edition in October.
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