Above: Aaron Eckhart as the villain Two Face in a very brief appearance during the latest trailer for The Dark Knight.

Fresh on the heels of the new trailer comes a Los Angeles Times interview with Aaron Eckhart. Possible spoilers abound -- in fact, I think there is a fairly huge one in there that I cannot believe slipped by. And people rag on us for being spoil sports! So, in order to preserve your innocence (I'm upset that mine is now gone), I shall copy the best quotes here.

Eckhart addressed the fact that the world has not been given a glimpse of his scarred district attorney, and promised that whatever fans have cooked up in their brains is nothing like what we're going to see. "That's right, people don't really know yet. I can tell you that, basically, when you look at Two-Face, you should get sick to your stomach. Being the guy under all that, well, that was a lot of fun for me. It's like you would feel if you met someone whose face had pretty much been ripped off or burned off with acid. I can't talk about it beyond that because I don't want to give away too much of the plans by Chris. There are fans on the Internet who have done artist's versions of what they think it will look like, and I can tell you this: They're thinking small; Chris is going way farther than people think."

Dang it! You sit online all week digging up stories for your Cinematical readers and the Sunday you duck offline to take your pug to the dog park, Harvey Dent holds a press conference.

It seems Gotham's D.A. hopeful was supposed to hold a press conference on Sunday at 3pm. Those who were able to get on Dent's website discovered that the press conference had been pre-empted by a hostage crisis. Lawyer Joseph Candoloro Frank Nataro (who was apparently sending e-mails and voice mails giving hints as to what he was up to) took a girl hostage at a coffee shop. Dent ended up breaking into the coffee shop, negotiating with Nataro, and rescuing the girl. What a guy.

Edward sent us a run down of the whole thing that was posted on EyeCraveDVD's forums. Thanks, Edward! And if you'd like to hear the audio of the entire event, it's up via Dent's official site.

I'm not entirely too sure where this video came from (I believe a few links popped up in the SHH forums), but it's up on YouTube now, so we're all good. Check out the first video of Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes above, as she speaks out to members of the Gotham City press on why she feels everyone should support Harvey Dent (as played by Aaron Eckhart in the sequel). Gyllenhaal, as most of us already know, took over for Katie Holmes after the actress decided not to return for The Dark Knight. It's not much, and this doesn't look to be part of the film (though maybe it will show up on a TV screen in the background somewhere), but those who were curious to see Gyllenhaal in action can finally do so now.

Personally, at this point I'm dying to see a Harvey Dent political commercial. I want children asleep in their beds, and a calm voiceover to say something like, "It's 3am in Gotham City, and the phone rings. Who do you want answering that call? Batman? No ... how about District Attorney Harvey Dent." Check out the video above, and let us know what you think of Maggie Gyllenhaal in this role? I've always had a thing for this gal, so I dig her in just about anything. You?

The Dark Knight hits theaters on July 18.

The Joker's latest campaign is currently overloading his server, but here's what's happened so far.

Over on Clown Travel Agency, a list of addresses was posted for bowling alleys across the country. Whoever got there first received a bowling bag with a ball engraved with a number, and the usual Joker swag of a cellphone and a Joker card.
(Empire has some photos of the swag up and is one of the few sites not being completely overloaded.) Those who called the number were told "We know who you are" and that was that. As each bag was picked up, CTA received another stamp.

Now CTA is defunct, and forwards you to Acme Security Systems, where you are asked to enter your e-mail address and phone number for voice verification. For most (including Erik Davis and myself), the server wouldn't load. One person I know got through, and the next task is apparently to disable Acme's security system. The password is "Needle" for what it's worth -- I assume this is what you're supposed to voice verify.

New updates after the jump ...

Harvey Dent's viral campaign has ended with a rather disappointing announcement that Dent is running for D.A. But, no doubt, this political campaign has been leading up to something more.

I was one of the thousands who received a voice mail from Dent Sunday afternoon urging me to help him fight the Citizens for a Concerned Gotham, the latest viral site to be launched. They've been very busy slandering poor Dent in the press as a corrupt and media crazed inquisitor. (I have to say, when my cellphone announced it had a voice mail, I was super excited. And then let down when it turned out to be Aaron Eckhart and not someone I actually knew.)

He's holding a meeting on April 1st, 3pm -- presumably Eastern time -- to answer all the questions of concerned citizens. The problem is, the Joker has also launched a new site, Clown Travel Agency. A departure is announced for April 1st, 3pm. He's also told followers that they'll hear from him again on April Fool's Day.

More: Update on Dark Knight Viral Sites

More: The Joker's Gag is Complete -- April Fooled

After quieting down for awhile, The Dark Knight viral campaign is back in full force this week with a new edition of The Gotham Times online, as well as several different websites tied to information written in the many new Times articles. Most of the new stuff is focused on Harvey Dent, with articles detailing his run for Gotham's District Attorney. There's also some stuff about a recent inmate escape at Arkham Asylum, more weird deaths around the city and various stuff about Batman.

Launched along with The Gotham Times is a very funny website called Maiden Avenue Report, which riffs on The Drudge Report. (I got a good chuckle out of that one.) Additionally, there's Gotham Cable News, DanaWorthington.com (apparently, she's also running for Gotham DA), Citizens for Batman, GVA Foundation and Saint Swithuns Church*. Oh wait, we're not done. On top of all this, the Joker is back at it again texting random people, asking if they're ready to get to work. He says to look for a message before April 1 (which also happens to be April Fools Day). Hmm, I wonder what he'll do ...

Have fun figuring out all the new clues, and definitely let us know if you find anything cool in the comments section below. The Dark Knight hits theaters on July 18.

*Corrected spelling.

[via SHH]

Gotham City is starting to rumble again -- and it is all centered around a certain D.A.

While Harvey Dent hasn't yet updated his site, Aaron Eckhart has been busy. He gave an exclusive interview to Wizard Magazine full of character goodness. Those looking to remain pure before the film might want to avoid it, as he gives some vital character bits away.

He does confirm what the Internet knew all along -- Harvey will become Two-Face during the course of The Dark Knight. But my feeling from this interview is that Two-Face might be the villain left standing by film's end. Nothing here confirms those early rumors that, despite all we've seen of the Joker thus far, Two-Face is actually the main villain of this film.

This follows rumors that the new trailer (which is supposed to premiere with 10,000 B.C. last I heard) will be entirely Harvey Dent oriented. Will we see Two-Face in that, or just revealed through viral marketing? I hope they follow the pattern they set with the Joker, and reveal Two-Face via Harvey Dent's site.

Are you sick and tired of all the political talk as of late? Having a hard time finding a candidate to stand behind? Well, might I suggest a young fellow named Harvey Dent. According to a message on the teaser site for next summer's The Dark Knight, Mr. Dent is running for District Attorney of Gotham City. His tagline: I Believe in Harvey Dent. That's right, Warner Bros. has already begun the marketing train for Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins follow-up by first releasing a pic of the Bat symbol flying through hyper speed (or something like that), and now we have a darling photo of my main man Aaron Eckhart all decked out in Dent gear. Don't get your hopes up too high though -- Dent's "gear" consists only of a flashy suit and a blue tie. But he looks smashing!

As you can see, they're obviously having a little fun with us; we're not sure if this is actually a picture of Eckhart as Dent, but I imagine the final outcome won't look much different. Now if I were take a wild guess, I would say that Warners might try to set up a little backstory in their marketing campaign before the movie hits. From what I've heard, Dent will be the newly-appointed DA when the film opens up. So are they setting things up? Will we next see a newspaper headline that reports a crime committed by Joker? Perhaps a Wanted poster? Or am I reading too far into this? Still no word on whether that so-called teaser (supposedly featuring the Joker) is real, but word is it's playing ahead of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Two months to go; we'll see. In the meantime, stay tuned to Cinematical as we'll let you know where you can vote for Mr. Dent come this November. The Dark Knight hits theaters on July 18, 2008.

Aaron Eckhart is still learning how to spar with those wily press people, apparently -- someone at MTV News almost got him to reveal a major plot point of The Dark Knight in a recent interview. While talking with the outlet about his plans for portraying the district attorney who gets splashed with acid and turns into a one-man Jekyll and Hyde, Eckhart was asked if he would remain in the "Harvey Dent" persona for the duration of The Dark Knight, forestalling his transformation until the third film. Eckhart blurted out "Yeah," before pulling it back and saying "Well, I'm Harvey Dent...then I go into Harvey Two-Face," which is one of those careful answers that could be reinterpreted about ten different ways.

Perhaps sensing that this guy was an easy mark, the interviewer pressed ahead and asked another plot question -- is it The Joker who will be throwing the acid into Harvey's face? Eckhart wasn't about to give that one up, though. "I think I'll be killed [if I comment on that] -- I'm not even sure I can say as much as I have," he said. "There are snipers looking at me right now!" Eckhart also said the film will be dividing shooting between London and Chicago and talked about how he envisions the character. "Batman is a complex character, and Two-Face comes a little bit from the same world," he said. "But [at the same time] he's apart from it." He also said that he was exploring "the tension between the two, the similarities between the two. I want to find what's similar to Batman and then find what's opposite to him." No word on whether he will be consulting Tommy Lee Jones for advice -- somehow I doubt it.

The role of Harvey 'Two-Face' Dent in The Dark Knight will be played by Aaron Eckhart, the trades reported late yesterday, although no formal announcement has been released. Eckhart joins Heath Ledger as the film's main villain, The Clown Prince of Crime, as well as returning players Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Christian Bale. No word yet on whether Morgan Freeman will be reprising his role as the Q-like tech whiz Lucius Fox. Eckhart, most known for his collaborations with Neil LaBute and for recent films like Thank You for Smoking and The Black Dahlia, will presumably report to work soon, as the film is gearing up production.

The comic character, which dates back to 1942, is a criminal defense attorney who gets a face full of acid and deteriorates into a crime lord known as Two-Face who decides whether to do good or evil based on each random flip of a coin. He was previously played by Billy Dee Williams in Tim Burton's Batman and, in full-villain regalia by Tommy Lee Jones in the down-market sequel Batman Forever. Eckhart's casting leaves at least one major role unfilled -- Batman's love interest. The rumor mill is tilting as strongly as possible towards Maggie Gyllenhaal to take on the role of Rachel Dawes, formerly played by Katie Holmes. Other potential female roles that could require casting include Selena Kyle, a.k.a. Catwoman, Talia al Ghul, Harley Quinn, or another new love interest character that's as yet undisclosed. Eckhart's next role will be the romantic dramady No Reservations, co-starring Catherine Zeta-Jones.

At this point it would probably be easier to list the actors who haven't been attached to play Harvey "Two Face" Dent in the upcoming Batman sequel The Dark Knight. One of the more popular names that has bandied about by "reliable" sources is Oscar winner Jamie Foxx. Of course, other reliable sources also put Hugh Jackman, Guy Pearce, Ethan Hawke and Ryan Phillipe in the role. But another rumor bites the dust now, as it looks we're going to have to take Foxx out of the running.

IGN.com managed to get a definitive statement from Foxx's publicist Alan Neirob about the casting rumors, who said that there is "No truth to it whatsoever." The announcement that Foxx will not be playing Dent has comes on the heels of growing buzz that Aaron Eckhart has become the new front-runner for the role. CAA declined to comment on the Eckhart rumors so until then we are just going to have to content ourselves with rampant speculation. Also, no one thought to ask Guy Pearce about his potential involvement at the recent Factory Girl junket in Manhattan. I'll be fine with whomever they choose as long as they don't announce that Tommy Lee Jones will be returning. After all these months of teasing, that just might be enough to put me over the edge.

The closer we get to production on The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan's Batman sequel), the firmer the cast list becomes. After non-stop rumors bombarded the net soon after the first film hit theaters, we're finally drawing in on the official decisions. One major (or at least important, if not major) player is still outstanding, however, as the rumor field remains wide open for the role of Harvey Dent (aka Two-Face). IGN Filmforce did some digging on the most popular candidates, and turned up the following:

Jake Gyllenhaal is a big flat no from everyone. His people, the movie people and even bums on the street seem to suggest there won't be a Brokeback reunion on the Dark Knight set. This is probably for the best, as it will save us a bunch of terrible jokes from morning television programs. CAA said no Guy Pearce. They were very confident about this, apparently. Unfortunalely, no one from Liev Schreiber's (Dent's leading candidate) camp could be contacted. Ryan Phillippe's management, lawyer, and agency all said "no comment," while his publicist shoveled out an "official denial."

Batman on Film says the role has been cast and an announcement will come soon. Denying a role until it is announced is a popular sport among actors, but if everyone here was telling the truth, the role will go to an unexpected actor. Guesses?

The Egyptian Theater in Hollywood recently hosted "An Evening with Christopher Nolan" and in the midst of discussing other projects, IGN Filmforce queried the director about his plans for The Dark Knight (that's the name of the Batman sequel, if you haven't already heard).

Primarily, IGN wanted to know the general direction and mood of Nolan's script. While Nolan jokingly admitted he hadn't actually finished the script yet, he did say he planned on continuing with the justice and revenge themes of the first flick: "it's a pretty direct continuation of where the last film left off, and the last scene of Batman Begins suggests a strong direction we wanted to take the story in." He also promised Harvey Dent would make an appearance in the film, but refused to talk about the role any further, except to note it hadn't been cast yet. Anybody care to offer up a suggestion or two for Mr. Nolan? As always, stay tuned to Cinematical for further casting updates as they become available ...

From the ever-vigilant folks over at Batman-on-Film comes a new casting rumor for Chris Nolan's upcoming sequel. BOF of course points out this news is only the "inside scuttlebutt" they've been hearing, and is not a verifiable fact in any way, so keep that under consideration as you read. Liev Schreiber has long been the frontrunner for the role of Harvey Dent (the man who would be Two-Face), and although he has been challenged in many rumors, his name continued to stick around while the others faded into the background. The newest rumor regarding the role reports Schreiber is out of the running and Guy Pearce (who worked with Nolan on Memento) is now the new favorite. Pearce has been tossed about before in connection to the role, but his name has apparently reached a new surge in "insider" popularity, bringing him back into the limelight. BOF also notes to expect more "official" casting news sometime in mid-October, during and around the release of Nolan's current film, The Prestige.

So what do you think, Bat-fans? I still like the Schreiber angle myself, but Guy Pearce wouldn't be a bad trade in my book.

Let us review what we have learned recently in the Batman Begins casting soap opera, before we move into the "what's new" category, shall we? This week, we got two big casting rumors from the Batcave:

1. Heath Ledger as The Joker. This one met with an odd mix of reactions, mostly tilting negative. My personal jury is still out, I'll get back to you as the film draws closer if nobody else replaces Ledger.
2. Ryan Philippe is Harvey Dent, who probably won't be two-face until a later film.

And now, the updates:

1. Two scoopers which meet with guru website Batman-on-Film approval are sort of denying the Heath Ledger thing. The general story seems to be Ledger has been offered the role, but has yet to accept it. He apparently has a very busy slate, and hasn't decided if he wants to drop other projects to pick this one up. *EDIT* Read Erik's post for the newest breaking news here.*
   
2. In one of the same scoops, BOF is also reporting fan supported Phillip Seymour Hoffman has been offered the role of Oswald Cobblepot who, contrary to early rumors, may in fact be a major villain in the sequel. Hoffman is likewise noncommittal, and is not sure he wants to get involved with the franchise.