'Dark Knight' Footage Screens at Wizard World Chicago

As predicted, The Dark Knight showed up in full force for Wizard World Chicago this weekend, with director Christopher Nolan, writers David Goyer and Jonathan Nolan, and cast members Christian Bale, Gary Oldman and Aaron Eckhart in attendance. Security was real tight; we're talking a ban on phones, cameras -- if there was a piece of equipment that could potentially snap a photo or record video, it needed to be left behind. Fortunately though, people were allowed to bring in their brains (thank God), and so descriptions of the footage shown can be found all over the net this morning. I've decided to go with IGN's coverage, since they're pretty detailed and organized during event's like these.

According to IGN, Christopher Nolan told the crowd that shooting was 50% done, and the footage he brought was stuff he cut together from the first half of filming. What did he show? Well, fans were elated to finally see some shots of Heath Ledger as The Joker. Apparently, they showed him in a prison cell, plotting something, and there's also an interrogation scene featuring both Batman and Joker which ends with the Dark Knight throwing Joker across a table. Um, sweet. Additionally, they showed a scene of Joker dancing with Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal), in which IGN says was reminiscent of the scene from Tim Burton's original Batman where Nicholson (as Joker) dances with Kim Basinger (as Vicki Vale). Apart from all that tasty stuff, IGN says there were a few scenes with Eckhart (as Dent), as well as one in which massive scarring can be seen on Dent's face. This leads me to believe that Two Face will play a part in the film, although there's no indication as to whether it's just a tease into the third film, or if there will be a battle. Head on over to IGN to read the rest, and they'll also have up a transcript of the Q&A later on today. The Dark Knight hits theaters on July 18, 2008.