Raimi's Ghost

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I sent this presumably bogus Aaron Eckhart/Harvey Dent photo to a couple of Warner Bros. publicists a while ago, wanting to double-check if it's genuine. I presume it's the work of some 15 year-old fan. The exposed teeth, flesh and tendons side of the face reminds me of something I've seen in one of Sam Raimi's Evil Dead films. But if it's a phony, it's a cool-looking one. A voice is telling me it's a little too perverse, a little too William Castle for the likes of Dark Knight director Chris Nolan...but maybe not.

If only...

On the slim chance it turns out to be real, I wouldn't want to get hit with a take-down order from Warner Bros. attorneys so, like I said, I ran it by the WB publicists. They were too busy to reply after an hour so I put it up anyway. It's good art. It would be very exciting if Eckhart/Dent actually looks like this.

comment #1

Jeremy Smith says ...

You'll have your C&D in the hour.

comment #2

A.H. says ...

Wow, thanks for ruining the surprise!

I knew I should have stopped reading this site at least six months before that movie came out. Gee, maybe I'll just stop reading it all together.

comment #3

alynch says ...

Jeff, you realize that Ain't It Cool News had this picture posted early yesterday, right?

comment #4

Geoff says ...

Over at AICN Moriarty said it's concept art from the film...so yeah.

comment #5

redmond says ...

Eckhart was in the LA Times over the weekend saying that Chris Nolan wanted it realistic and that you'd basically want to puke if you saw Two-Face's, well, face.

I hope this it because, wow, it looks awesome. Worth the spoiler which, honestly, I'm surprised it went this far without a first look at Harvey.

comment #6

storymark says ...

Several different sources have confirmed this as concept art. But they also say it's very close to the final product.

comment #7

p.Vice says ...

If Nolan wanted it "realistic", how goddamn realistic is it that a dude who gets his face so fucked up would live to tell?

Ah, the hypocrisy of the unimaginative is such grand folly.

comment #8

redmond says ...

Also, because I can't resist:

"Hey, Eckhart! Think about the future!"

comment #9

D.Z. says ...

Tom Cruise needs another tent-pole, stat! http://www.darkhorizons.com/news08/080506k.php

comment #10

Jason says ...

Redmond: Ha!

comment #11

berkguru says ...

I think it looks awful and will be bummed if that is the final product. Looks fake as hell and too cartoony.

comment #12

Gabriel says ...

Reminds me of the cover art for Lateralus. If there's an Alex Grey touch to the design of Two Face, I will be extremely pleased.

comment #13

televisiontears says ...

I'm guessing this will be more like Harvey Dent's self-image. A while back, Eckhart said something about Nolan playing with editing to convey the character. I bet his "real-life" scarring will be much less horrific.

comment #14

Dublin101 says ...

I think that picture is just a little too disgusting to be entertaining. And there is no way that a concept like that would land a PG13 rating. But if it has than we are on our way to a PG13 Saw sequel..

comment #15

Jay T. says ...

"Wow, thanks for ruining the surprise!"

Gimme a break... does that concept picture really qualify as a spoiler? You make us commenters lose credibility when Jeff really does spoil something he shouldn't have.

comment #16

Richardson says ...

"If Nolan wanted it "realistic", how goddamn realistic is it that a dude who gets his face so fucked up would live to tell?"

That's pretty naive. Have you ever seen what somebody who survives a fire looks like? It can be a LOT worse than this. He looks tame compared to the homeless guy who rides the L-train every day, whose face is so burned he can barely talk to beg.

comment #17

actionman says ...

Richardson:

I've tried, and trust me, it can be difficult at times, but it's best just to try and ignore p.Vice; rarely does he/she contribute anything remotely insightful or interesting to the debate at hand. It's all just poo-poo's and bitching and moaning about what sucks or what isn't right about a particular film.

comment #18

Rothchild says ...

Wells, you're a dick. But people should know by now that you have some odd desire to ruin big surprises in all the big movies for your readers. You're like that fat kid at Comic Con wearing a T-shirt that spoils the end of a Harry Potter book. You're stoked to piss people off.

comment #19

Richardson says ...

"The exposed teeth, flesh and tendons side of the face reminds me of something I've seen in one of Sam Raimi's Evil Dead films."

being fair, though, it would be pretty innovative if he manages to make it look realistic to have that make-up face on one side looking like it's an actual exposed skull, and the other face looking normal. Any time they've done make-up like that in the past, the face is clearly added on top of a real face. So it *could* be cutting edge.

I don't expect it neccessarily will be, but it could be a pretty big deal.

comment #20

televisiontears says ...

Might be closer to this:

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u35/bgates87/large_two_face_web.jpg

comment #21

storymark says ...

"And there is no way that a concept like that would land a PG13 rating."

What, you never saw The Mummy?

comment #22

Mr. Blood Vessel says ...

it's pretty accurate to the comic:
http://anyeventuality.files.wordpress.com/2006/04/Bianche%20Two-Face%20Cropped%2080pc.JPG

comment #23

berkguru says ...

television tears now that looks fricking sweet...would be awesome

comment #24

berkguru says ...

television tears now that looks fricking sweet...would be awesome

comment #25

BurmaShave says ...

I understand its a comic book movie, but if this is real I'll have the same problem I had with DARKMAN, which is that A) it's just unpleasantly gross, and B) it's not plausible he could survive the infection.

comment #26

bents75 says ...

Yeah, but Bermashave, hes's essentially a "villain" at this point. It seems to me that gross is sometimes a pretty good response to go for.

Think aliens...freddy krueger...pizza the hut....etc.

P.S. Darkman sucks for plenty of other reasons.

comment #27

Richardson says ...

"B) it's not plausible he could survive the infection."

I always laugh when people draw arbitrary lines in the sand. Like the movie would be completely plausible if it weren't for Two-Face. (And as if actual living people have never survived the infections that set in on burns that bad.)

comment #28

p.Vice says ...

Ohhhh actionman... I've even got Burma agreeing with me on this one. And if I'm not contributing anything except bitching and moaning, what exactly is your post bitching and moaning about me contributing to the discussion about this movie?

What was I saying about hypocrisy again?

comment #29

alynch says ...

Awwww, he's upset.

comment #30

BurmaShave says ...

Haha pVice, misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows, indeed.

comment #31

Shane says ...

Credit where credit's due -- this photo originated with Rich Johnston and his Lying in the Gutters column yesterday. He got his C&D pretty quickly.

comment #32

chicagodad says ...

Yes, he probably would not survive looking like that. But Bruce wouldn't have survived 99% of the crap they have the character do on a regular basis, so who cares?

A note on the actual scarring vs Harvey's self image, Miller played with that a bit in The Dark Knight. Harvey has reconstructive surgery, but still sees himself as scarred, even with a pristine new face.

There was also a great moment on the same lines with Dr Doom in the Fantastic Four (I think it was during John Byrne's run on the book.) For decades, we'd been told about how part of Doom's hatred for Reed Richards was because of the horrible scarring he suffered in his experiment gone wrong.

Well, there was an issue where Byrne revealed Doom's face, and it was a thin scar a couple of inches long on one cheek. Doom was just so pathologically vain that it drove him to wear the mask for the rest of his life.

And that is your daily moment of comic book nerdiness... enjoy.

comment #33

LOTGA says ...

To those who say that this look for Two-Face is unrealistic: It's a movie, about a guy who dresses up like a bat and fights crime.

comment #34

Richardson says ...

One Year Later had a great story where a healed Harvey Dent spent a year helping Gotham, but Batman comes back and, when push comes to shove, doesn't trust him, which drives him crazy, and he cuts his face and gives himself his scars back.

I was thinking it would play *great* in the movie if he got scarred, then Wayne paid to have him fixed, but he had already been driven crazy and then re-cuts his face.

comment #35

renorambler says ...

"I always laugh when people draw arbitrary lines in the sand. Like the movie would be completely plausible if it weren't for Two-Face. (And as if actual living people have never survived the infections that set in on burns that bad.)"

No doubt! I sat through one of the Timothy Dalton Bond movies at a special screening and endured silly unrealistic stunt after stunt, and in the last 10 minutes a guy behind me blurted out, "that is so unrealistic!" I had to laugh. Wonder what that guy thinks of the fake martial arts crap that JW has been yammering about recently (not that I disagree with Jeff on this).

comment #36

actionman says ...

p.Vice: I was just trying to warn Richardson of your annoying ways.

comment #37

Gnome de Guerre says ...

I'm waiting for the fan-art that shows half-Eckhart, half-Billy Dee Williams. I guess that would be post-reconstruction/face-transplant. THEN he goes and scars himself up. Now that would be one hell of a look.

This one honestly scares me. And it implies *such* tragedy, that I don't know if I'd be able to enjoy it as entertainment. I mean, it's *so* fucking sad, esp. when combined with all the other rumors of what happens with that character's arc, that it just puts a lump in your throat the whole movie. Happened to me Batman and Robin too, that lump, but for different reasons.

comment #38

storymark says ...

p.Vice - The point you seem to miss is that, those who bitch about your posts, also post in various ways, positive and negative,

ALL you do is bitch. Therein lies the difference.

comment #39

moorish says ...

This is concept art, so the final look may not be entirely like this. It sure is gross to look at though (better than the Tommy Lee Jones version). My only thought is that it may be a little *too* extreme - as noted above, nobody would be able to survive that level of disfigurement.

comment #40

Rich S. says ...

Survive? Infection? It's a comic book movie, people!

Anyway, this goes back to my earlier comment that if they go this far, maybe they've pushed the envelope too much. Don't get me wrong. Nolan can do whatever he wants and for me, the more disgusting the better. But you can't use that picture to sell happy meals. When that happens, the suits get involved and we get Schumacher and Batman and Robin.

If that's the case, at least Nolan will have gone out with a bang.

comment #41

Dave Polands Gut says ...

I love how morons try to find reality in comic book movies.

Comic books!

comment #42

BurmaShave says ...

BurmaShave says ...
I understand its a comic book movie

Thought I'd repost for all you boys who must have done so well on your reading comprehension tests.

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