The Batman 2: Rumored Two-Face Frontrunners Revealed

Casting Two-Face in The Batman — Part II could come down to the flip of a coin. Matt Reeves is returning to direct and write the Batman sequel, which will see Robert Pattinson don the cape and cowl of Gotham's Dark Knight a second time. Ahead of a scheduled early 2024 production start at Warner Bros. Leavesden Studios in England, Batman 2 is reportedly eyeing two actors for the role of Gotham District Attorney Harvey Dent: Josh Hartnett and Joel Edgerton. Insider John Rocha revealed the rumored shortlist on The Hot Mic podcast with Jeff Sneider.  

According to Rocha, the producers are looking at Hartnett and Edgerton for the role of Gotham's new D.A., who "may become Two-Face by the end of the film." Gotham's corrupt district attorney Gil Colson (Peter Sarsgaard) was a victim of the Riddler's (Paul Dano) in The Batman.

Hartnett is known for film roles in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, Pearl Harbor, Black Hawk Down, Lucky Number Slevin, and 30 Days of Night. The 44-year-old actor once passed on playing the Man of Steel in 2006's Superman Returns and had talks to play Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight in 2005's Batman Begins, roles that went to Brandon Routh and Christian Bale, respectively.

Edgerton's credits include Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, Smokin' Aces, Warrior, Zero Dark Thirty, Loving, The Green Knight, and the TV series Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Australian actor and filmmaker previously collaborated with Pattinson on The Rover (2014), Life (2015), and The King (2019).

One of Batman's most infamous foes, Harvey Dent was a dedicated defender of justice before a criminal threw acid into his face, leaving half of it scarred — and splintering his psyche. Billy Dee Williams played Gotham D.A. Dent in 1989's Batman; the disfigured villain was later played by Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Forever in 1995 and Aaron Eckhart in Nolan's The Dark Knight in 2008.

Plot details remain under wraps, but it was reported in March that the Bat-villain called Clayface also plays a role in The Batman — Part II. In April, Reeves said that the script he's co-writing with Mattson Tomlin is "going to take these characters and put them in some kind of emotional jeopardy. There's a deep-dive that already happened at the beginning and now I'm gonna have to deep-dive again."

Reeves' Bat-Verse exists outside the DC Universe continuty that DC Studios co-chiefs James Gunn and Peter Safran are establishing with their slate titled Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters. The rebooted Batman, which starred Pattinson as a younger Bruce Wayne in his second year as Gotham's caped crusader, grossed $770 million at the box office and introduced new takes on rogues Riddler (Dano), Penguin (Colin Farrell), and Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz).

The Batman — Part II is scheduled to open in theaters on October 3rd, 2025.