Although Warner Bros. decided not to debut anything Dark Knight related during their official panel, the studio staged an elaborate stunt outside by painting a phone number across the sky, followed by a message from the Joker. For those who'd like to play along without skipping to the end of everything, call this number: 1-800-395-9646. Follow the riddles given to you on the phone over at the website we talked about earlier today. Eventually, as you pass each step, the above photo will appear. Looks like Maggie Gyllenhaal ain't having such a swell day. And yes, that's Heath Ledger as the Joker with a knife up to Mags' sweet face.

As you move further along in the Joker's game, eventually you'll be provided with the first teaser trailer for The Dark Knight ... in glorious HD quicktime. It's taking a really long time to load the best quality trailer, but I got through pretty quickly with this link. As expected, it is the same trailer we wrote about yesterday (the one that was leaked onto YouTube) in which no actual footage is shown; just a fairly heated conversation between Bruce Wayne/Batman (Christian Bale) and Alfred (Michael Caine). The Joker's voice pops on briefly, a Joker card flies at the screen ... and we're out. Stay tuned to Cinematical as we've been all over ComicCon and will share all the glorious breaking news as it hits.

As J. Peterman once said, "I am smack dab in the middle of a good old-fashioned cat fight!" While recently discussing her role in next year's Bat-sequel The Dark Knight, Maggie Gyllenhaal dunked Katie Holmes into a Dawson's Creek of verbal abuse. Gyllenhaal is taking over the role of Rachel Dawes, which Holmes originated in 2005's Batman Begins. Check out this quote from Gyllenhaal, but you might want to put a jacket on first: "I'm not thinking of it as a role that anyone's played before. I'm not walking into Katie Holmes' performance. I'm thinking of it as an opportunity to play somebody who's alive and smart. Chris (Nolan) asked me to do this because he wanted me, not because he wants some generic lady in a dress." Daaaaaamn! No she didn't!

I'm not sure Holmes really deserves any more negativity at this point. She's in a mercilessly mocked marriage that no one seems to take seriously, she's got a new baby, and she hasn't exactly been adored by the critics. Holmes certainly gave a pretty weak performance in Batman Begins, but let's give the gal a break here, no? What do you guys think about this, is Gyllenhaal being too harsh on Holmes? In the interview, Gyllenhaal also mentions that she might give the Jackie Chan thing a try in the film: "I'm really excited about it. I mean, it's not some silly action movie. Chris Nolan is directing, Christian Bale's starring. I'm really excited and curious about doing a couple of stunts in Batman." Why do all "serious actors" feel they have to justify being in action movies? They always have to point out how different and superior this one is to all the others, or its "I'm only doing this crap so I can finance my pet project -- a tone poem about migrant Chinese workers." You want to do an action movie, silly or otherwise, do it! We don't need to hear that you'd normally be above such frivolous projects.

Sources have told Comingsoon.net and and some other outlets that a teaser trailer for The Dark Knight will make a double-premiere on July 27, both on prints of The Simpsons Movie as it hits theaters across America, and during the Warner Bros. ComicCon presentation earlier that morning. For the last few weeks, we've been hearing that it was simply too soon for anything of substance to be unveiled at ComicCon for The Dark Knight, but really, how hard is it to cut a teaser together? If it's cleverly done, you can get by with only seconds of useable footage from the film, and it doesn't have to be money-shot footage. Looks like the powers-that-be have come around to that way of thinking. If all of this is legit, it would, of course, be the first time footage from the film has been seen anywhere, although some fans have gotten so impatient that they've actually crafted some fan trailers to keep themselves satiated in the meantime.

So what secrets are left about the production? We're still not completely sure who Anthony Michael Hall is playing, although source after source has claimed to know that he is playing Edward Nygma, a.k.a. The Riddler. It's also still up for debate whether Aaron Eckhart will transform into Harvey Dent in this film, or whether that's being saved for the next one. We're also fairly sure that Harley Quinn will not be making an appearance in the film, despite some earlier rumors that Sarah Michelle Gellar was up for that role. What about the role of the cop, Renee Montoya? Still no word on that either, although it's likely to be a small part even if its cast. Stay tuned to Cinematical for all the latest.

Any Guardian sit-down worth its salt has to include a not-so subtle evaluation of the star's interview habits, and this new one with Maggie Gyllenhaal is no exception. "She sits directly opposite me, her feet planted firmly on the floor," the interviewer tells us. "She asks for a camomile tea and coolly, in a tone that brooks no argument, requests that the assembled public relations people leave the room while we conduct the interview." After this evaluation, it's off to the races, with Gyllenhaal delving into everything from her trepidation about doing Secretary -- "in the wrong hands, in even slightly the wrong hands, even in just slightly less intelligent hands, this movie could say something really weird" -- to everything that went into her performance in Sherrybaby. She's especially frank when it comes to the movie's sex scenes. "I find those scenes hard to watch," she says. "But when I was making them, I was thinking how Sherry would be thinking: I've been in prison for three years, I want to c*me."

Gyllenhaal also owns up to some tussles with directors over the years, but she's too polite to name names. When asked about what her most difficult acting experience has been so far, she replies that she once "realized very early on in a shoot that I was at odds with the director, and I had to go through the whole shoot trying to figure out how to stay alive as an actress, when I was being squashed by the director." For the record, it wasn't Oliver Stone -- she says that she loved working with him, and describes him as being "nuts, but totally inspiring." As for the movie she's shooting right now, The Dark Knight, Gyllenhaal has nothing but praise for how she's being treated. "Doing Batman has shocked me at every turn. When I started, I thought 'Well, it's a huge movie, I'll just do my best to put what I can into it. But, in fact, they've been really hungry for my ideas, for my views. It's great! They've been asking for more!"

Apparently, someone is having a blast with their cell phone camera on the set of The Dark Knight, which is currently shooting in Chicago. Tipster Paul pointed us towards a site that is currently hosting what appear to be the first photos of Batman on set. Based on both pics, I'm going to be careful about announcing to the world that Christian Bale is inside that bat suit -- since we never actually see his face, there's a chance it's a stuntman. Regardless, does the dude look jacked or what? We got our first chance to see Bale in full costume the other day when folks scanned a full page photo of the new and improved Batman from out of EW magazine. However, the pics today are the first to show the man in action.

Based on what we see, it looks like Batman is hanging around in some alley waiting to jump off a set of wooden stairs. There's one shot of him from the front (featured right), as well as one from behind and off to the side. Artistically, I really dig the second shot (it would be better if that shampoo-like bottle wasn't in frame), but when it comes to spy photos I'm not so sure we're looking for fancy angles. This new set of photos join a host of other pics that have shown up online in recent days while the much-anticipated sequel shoots in Chicago. We've already received what appears to be a first look at the Joker's purple clown car, as well as shots of both Maggie Gyllenhaal (as Rachel Dawes) and Aaron Eckhart (as Harvey Dent). With spies situated all over this set, it's only a matter of time before a crystal clear pic of Heath Ledger as the Joker makes its way onto computer screens across the world. Stay tuned folks, there's a lot more coming down the pipeline ...

Some photos of Maggie Gyllenhaal and Aaron Eckhart working on the Chicago set of The Dark Knight have found their way online. This is the first chance we've had to see whether or not Gyllenhaal would have some radical new look as Rachel Dawes, or if she'd be more or less the same old Maggie. Looks like the latter, although we can see that she's going to be wearing a rather severe overcoat in at least one scene. In the photo to the right, she's doing what actors do -- having long cell-phone calls while hair and make-up people work around them. In another photo, we see two wardrobe people fiddling around with her coat while she just stands there. The Eckhart photos are even less eventful -- just him apparently getting into a cab.

We recently passed on to you some new photos of the electronically souped-up Batsuit as well as the Joker clown car, but there haven't been many shots of the actors leaking online lately. We're still waiting for some clear, high-res photos of Heath Ledger as The Joker or of Christian Bale doing his thing as Bruce Wayne. Or the real prize -- William Fichtner as Bank Manager! And sooner or later, we'll know for sure if Cillian Murphy is going to be returning as Scarecrow. As the production continues -- I think it's moving on to London soon -- there will surely be more photos and information leaking out, and we'll continue to bring it to you.

Before I begin, I'd like to state two things: First off, the following are rumors and nothing is official until we see it with our own eyes. Also, what I'm about to tell you might be deemed spoiler-ish, so if you don't want to know anything about The Dark Knight (rumor or not), then I suggest not reading this story. Are we clear? With that, Batman on Film is reporting a few interesting little nuggets via one of their top secret sources, "Miranda Fox." The most fascinating of these rumors being the possible appearance of The Scarecrow in The Dark Knight. There's no word on where, why or how he would make an appearance, but Fox notes: "The Scarecrow, played by Cillian Murphy, will be back." If this is true, then that means there's a good chance Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) will not make his Two Face transformation in this film unless he does so at the very end and they use it as a cliffhanger.

Aside from that, here are a few other scoops from Miranda Fox: "The Joker is "The Joker" throughout the film. There could be some classic Nolan "flashbacks" that vaguely hint at his origin, but there is no big "Joker origin story." As far as Joker descriptions go, it appears some Chicago extras are beginning to spill their guts: "My guy "Chicago Extra" was correct in his description of The Joker (Heath Ledger), but there is a reason that The Joker's neck isn't white, but is "flesh-colored" (and I'll leave it at that). The Joker will wear purple in the film. It may not be a literal translation from his comic book suit, but he wears purple. A "gash smile" is a better description of The Joker's grin than "cut smile." Also, Fox adds that Rachel Dawes (as played by Maggie Gyllenhaal) will have a much bigger role in the sequel.

On another front, BoT reports via a New York Post story that Eric Roberts will indeed play the gangster Sal Maroni. According to the paper, "Roberts will play Mafia kingpin Sal Maroni. Landing the role is a blockbuster coup for Roberts, who was reportedly hand-picked by director Christopher Nolan over rumored candidates James Gandolfini and Bob Hoskins." Oh, and the film is currently shooting in London. Any thoughts on all this? How do you figure Christopher Nolan will work in Scarecrow?