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In my earlier blog about the viral marketing behind "The Dark Knight" I mentioned Ledger's minimal screen time in the upcoming film.  Nolan has gone on many interviews to insist that "Knight" will not be a Joker origin story; in fact he described the Joker as "an absolute"--someone who more or less cuts through the narrative and blows shit up.  Think of the Scarecrow's role in "Batman Begins."

So where is the emotional stake in the plot going to lie?  With none other than Harvey Dent (played by the "Thank You For Smoking" spin doctor Aaron Eckhart), Gotham's soon to be fallen anti-hero.

According to comic book folklore, Dent's character is horribly disfigured when acid is splashed in his face by a criminal witness in a courtroom trial but if you pay close attention to the new trailer (released on 4-28-08) you'll notice these quick shots:

Obviously Nolan has chosen a more dramatic approach toward Dent's disfiguration as opposed to the comic book, and this just adds to the anticipation.  Surely, "Knight" isn't all that it seems right now.  Currently, fanboys are purchasing clown make-up to dress up like what they think will be a Darth Vader-like villian role in the Joker.  But we know how Nolan is with keeping secrets and not giving away the good stuff.  So Harvey Two Face will go on between now and July on a mum-like buzz.  But when those houselights go down on July 18th, and the plot starts unraveling, we're going to hear a mixture of moans (those angry about the lack of Joker time and/or relevance) and inspired gasps (those willing to trust and take Nolan's direction into the darker passages he'd rather navigate with Dent).

So just how dark?

In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, Eckhart helped shed some light: "Harvey Dent has an extremely strong sense of justice. His fiancée (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is killed. He's horribly injured. But he is still true to himself."

Fianceé killed?!  Here's a specific case where we can thank the Joker for his presence in the film:

I'm not trying to break anyone's heart with the Joker either.  Eighteen minutes or eighteen hundred minutes of screen time of Ledger's rendition of the Joker will be sublime.  Just remember it's the former not latter.

Let's just take time to celebrate the return of another iconic villain from the Batman universe.

Eckhart: "There are fans on the Internet who have done artist's versions of what they think it will look like, and I can tell you this: They're thinking small; Chris [Nolan] is going way farther than people think.  To me, this film is about how Batman feels about justice, how he takes care of the city, how he feels about the Joker when he meets him and sees what he is capable of doing. How he feels when Harvey Two-Face takes matters into his own hands. It's not simple, and it gets ugly. I think people will be surprised."

I give you: Harvey Two Face.