Cinematical

The most persistent rumor in Hollywood -- that Maggie Gyllenhaal has sewn up a substantial role in The Dark Knight, either as Rachel Dawes, Selena Kyle, or Harley Quinn, has gotten some new heat thrown on it, courtesy of the tipsters at Latino Review. There's no question that Warner Bros. is their sweetspot, and they are now re-upping their original Gyllenhaal tip with the following assertion: "Now it looks like Maggie Gyllenhaal will be the new Rachel Dawes! Confirmed by two of my strongest on the money sources." That's a little short of saying 'we have the news in advance -- an official announcement is coming soon,' but it does appear, based on everything we know, that Gyllenhaal is close to putting pen to paper, if she hasn't done it already.

The bigger question is why Christopher Nolan feels compelled to re-introduce the Rachel Dawes character that was created for Batman Begins, one of the more bland and uninteresting love-interest stock characters to come down the pike in a long time. Does he really feel that Dawes has a crucial role to play in the series going forward? Is there some kind of 'transformation' in her character's future that isn't common knowledge? Shouldn't this character be sent back to the junk pile and a new love-interest dreamed up? Of course, it's still possible that all of this is smoke-screen, and Gyllenhaal is as in the dark as we are about these rumblings.