The pop-culture appetite for Batman seems inexhaustible; thousands of comic books, several movies, endless animated iterations, some of which are quite good and some of which are rather bad. Is there any real need to return to the character beyond the profit motive, though? After the financial and critical success of Batman Begins, the powers-that-be behind The Dark Knight could have made a safe bet of a sequel; a little more action, a few more actors, more of the same and a few extra explosions.

What's telling about The Dark Knight, though, is how risky it is -- how it's bold and brave and truly exciting, full of rich and strong performances and some real ideas along the way. Why return to Batman? It turns out that for Christopher Nolan, the reason to come back is that there's something to say about, and with, the character even after decades of stories and multiple reinventions. I was hoping The Dark Knight would be good; I had no idea that director and co-writer Christopher Nolan was going to make a film that not only addressed the philosophical and political conflict between the rule of force and the rule of law but also takes on the timeless clash between order and chaos ... and, along the way, evokes everything from Michael Mann's Heat to John Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. ...

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.

And I couldn't be more excited. Variety tells us tonight that Maggie Gyllenhaal (who was once rumored alongside folks like Rachel McAdams and Emily Blunt) is in final talks to play Rachel Dawes in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight (which, of course, is the sequel to Batman Begins.) Gyllenhaal will replace Katie Holmes as the love interest of Christian Bale, and Batman fans around the world are cheering with glee. I swear, I can hear them -- cant you? They're cheering!

There was never a good reason given for Holmes' departure; some thought hubby Tom Cruise did not approve of the role, while others felt she was just interested in another project. Needless to say, fans of the first film never quite took to Holmes in the role of Dawes, and now that Gyllenhaal -- with her cool, smooth and sometimes edgy persona -- is in the picture, you'll be hard-pressed to find a negative reaction as The Dark Knight officially heads into production. In the pic, Batman will face off against his arch-nemesis, The Joker (Heath Ledger), while Aaron Eckhart arrives on the scene as Harvey Dent, Gotham district attorney. Dent, as we all know, will at some point make a transformation and become the villain Two Face. Big Batman news, folks! Thoughts? Concerns?

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.

While every female in Hollywood is jockeying for the lead in Wonder Woman, it is beginning to look like another spot could be opening up in a different superhero title. Whispers have suggested for some time now that Katie Holmes may not return to Gotham, and according to the near-prescient folks over at Batman-on-Film, those whispers may be picking up steam: "In other Bat-Sequel news, I'm starting to hear a few rumblings that Katie Holmes may not return to reprise her role as Rachel Dawes."Hand-in-hand with the no-Katie rumor comes the rumor of a new female lead being created. There are certainly several good possibilities from the comic books -- anyone have a bet they'd like to place on who the new character may be?