DC Just Turned an Iconic Batman Villain Into a Hero (And It's Perfect)

Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta’s critically acclaimed series Absolute Batman has been renowned for its striking reimagining of the Dark Knight and his lore. Every new issue has debuted an all-new reimagining of Batman’s stories, allies, and enemies. Among the biggest reinterpretations is the idea that several iconic Batman villains are Bruce Wayne’s childhood friends, including Harvey Dent. Naturally, no one was surprised when Bruce’s friends underwent horrific transformations and mutilations to become the villains that they were always destined to be. And after much anticipation, Absolute Batman #21 finally has Harvey Dent become Two-Face. However, instead of being one of Batman’s greatest villains, the Absolute Universe offers the perfect reimagining of Two-Face by making him a hero.

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The Absolute Universe is filled to the brim with new and terrifying alternate versions of Batman’s greatest villains. Enemies like the Joker, Bane, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, and Scarecrow have been given some of their most powerful and nightmarish incarnations in DC Comics history. Despite this, instead of becoming the next in a long line of terrifying abominations out to break the Bat, Two-Face may be the Dark Knight’s newest ally.

Gotham Has a New Vigilante in Town

When Harvey Dent, Oswald Cobblepot, Edward Nigma, and Waylon Jones were first introduced in the Absolute Universe, they were Bruce Wayne’s oldest and closest friends. Even after they discovered that Bruce was Batman, they pooled their resources and helped their friend in his crimefighting. Unfortunately, this would lead Bane to track down Bruce’s friends and bludgeon and permanently disfigure them. With Harvey, Bane cracked his skull down the middle and left him with burns all over half of his body. Yet, despite having his body and mind broken, the one thing that didn’t break was Harvey’s sense of justice.

In Absolute Batman #21, the funeral of Jim Gordon has the four transformed friends of Bruce reunite, and it’s here that the nature of the new Two-Face is revealed. When it came out that Harvey had worked with Batman, every case he worked on was dismissed, and numerous vicious criminals were let back onto the street. Instead of joining them in the criminal underworld as a villain, Absolute Two-Face became a vigilante dedicated to hunting down those who evaded the law’s reach. In a brilliant reinvention of a classic formula, the brain damage Two-Face suffered caused him to develop an overwhelming issue of indecisiveness. To settle his thoughts, Two-Face uses the flip of a poker chip to determine if a criminal should live or die, riddled with bullets.

Two-Face has essentially become the Absolute Universe’s version of Marvel’s Punisher, as he has no qualms about taking a life at the flip of a chip. This opens the door to a lot of narrative potential when Two-Face finally reunites with Bruce, given that, despite his increased brutality, Batman still refuses to kill. Two-Face could potentially fill the role of the main DC Universe’s Red Hood as an anti-hero who works with and against Batman because of their differing views on the severity of criminal punishment. Whatever the case may be, given the sheer power and influence the Joker and his minions have compared to Batman’s, the Dark Knight is going to need all the help he can get.

The Two Sides of Justice

The concept of Two-Face acting as an anti-hero rather than a villain makes sense. It plays into the characters’ core concept with far greater nuance. In the primary DC continuity, the disfiguration caused Harvey’s evil split personality to emerge and constantly (most of the time successfully) fight for control over his body. However, where in the main universe, Harvey and his Two-Face are constantly split between good and evil, in the Absolute Universe, Two-Face is equally determined and indecisive between guilt or innocence.

Two-Face is a character who’s obsessed with fairness, chance, and justice when committing to an action. But where other incarnations often lean towards evil, Absolute Two-Face leans towards justice. Instead of an evil split personality, Absolute Two-Face’s brain damage caused him to be constantly split as to whether he should think or act in two very contrasting ways. This indecision predominantly expresses itself as Two-Face deciding whether to let a criminal go free or to give them the death penalty. And of course, the final decision is ultimately made by the poker chip. This concept works much better with Two-Face’s core philosophy and background, as it ingeniously plays into Harvey’s past as a lawyer and the concept of justice being blind and final, while often being capricious.

Not only does Two-Face becoming a gun-toting vigilante constantly wrestling with his indecisiveness offer a compelling look into the nature of the justice system and how it can simultaneously be arbitrarily merciful and cruel, but it also starkly contrasts with Absolute Batman. The Absolute Universe version of the Dark Knight is a man defined by his unwavering commitment to his mission; he only pushes forward in his war against the Joker. Meanwhile, Two-Face is an anti-hero who struggles with being split in his mission. And where Batman will ensure that criminals pay for their crimes without killing them, Two-Face either lets them walk free or guns them down. Batman is a hero defined by his overwhelming drive to complete a singular mission, while Two-Face must struggle with his irresolution.

Absolute Batman’s reinterpretation of Two-Face is perfect because it keeps the core concept of fairness and chance while also more heavily tying it to his past as a member of the justice system. For when the corruption of the Absolute Universe rears its ugly head, Two-Face will be there to take the law into his hands.

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