The Dark Knight’s Aaron Eckhart Thinks Harvey Dent Would Have Told Gotham the Truth About Two-Face

In the final scenes of The Dark Knight, Aaron Eckhart‘s Harvey Dent was killed, resulting in Batman taking the blame for the death to spare the people of Gotham City from learning of Two-Face’s horrific crimes, though Eckhart notes that, had his character lived, he would have made sure the people of Gotham had learned the truth about the horrifying villain he had become. This is entirely hypothetical, of course, as it would require Dent having knowledge of the villain he would become after being horrifically injured during an explosion, thus creating a paradox where he could potentially avoid this tragic fate entirely.

“No, he would’ve told the truth. That’s the great thing about Harvey Dent,” Eckhart confirmed with The Hollywood Reporter when asked if his character would lie to Gotham City. “Despite whatever is going on, he’s a truth-teller and he’s a moral center. And not only that, he’s the face of truth, right? I don’t want to say he’s not hiding behind something, but he’s not. Now, when he becomes Two-Face, he is. But Harvey Dent was out there fighting for every man and woman, for truth and justice, and he put himself on the line. But having done so, he got bit, and he was forever changed. But you don’t want to lose your Harvey Dents in life. No matter how much money or pressure there is, no matter how much coercion, control, or corruption there is, Harvey Dent is going to stay true to the moral center and the truth.”

Despite the lie told by Jim Gordon about Dent’s fate, which resulted in years of peace in the city, Eckhart noted that he thinks a more powerful message potentially would have been conveyed had the politician’s flaws been exposed.

“When you become a politician, you’re expected to become corrupted, and it’s only those people who do not become corrupted that stand out,” the actor pointed out. “Otherwise, life is a lie. Here we are, worshipping politicians, sports stars, celebrities, and all this sort of stuff, and yet, we don’t know if they’re corrupted or not. We don’t know why they’re making their decisions or what’s going on behind the scenes. So when you find out that somebody’s been true to themselves and true to truth, that’s a rare bird. So I believe Harvey would not approve of Two-Face or the lie that was told.”

The upcoming The Batman is set to star a number of famous villains of the Caped Crusader, but there have been no announced plans to feature Harvey Dent or Two-Face in a new film. The Batman is slated to land in theaters on March 4, 2022.

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