Aaron Eckhart joins "The Dark Knight"

Umm isn't harvey dent black?

I swear I answered this for you before in the last Eckhart/Dent article.

Harvey Dent is not Black. It was a sweird casting move by even weirder Tim Burton. Billy Dee Williams played Harvey Dent in the original movie. In every other medium, including the comic book Dent is a white dude. I wouldn`t consider it an issue but it was just a strange casting. I could see someone like Howard or a young Denzel playing Dent if he was originally black, but he wasn`t so Eckhart is a great choice.

I would love to have seen Billy Dee play two face, just for the odd "Burtonness" of it.

Otherwise, Eckhart is a good pick.

Whenever I hear this name associated with Batman... all I can think of is "Hey Eckhart! Think about the future!"

Eckhart was in Thank You for Smoking with Katie Holmes. Katie Holmes is married to Tom Cruise who was in a Few Good Men with Kevin Bacon.

ponyboy76, considering that virtually none of the actors in the Batman films (with the arguable exception of Jack Nicholson) particularly resembled their appearances in the comics, what makes choosing a capable black actor to play Harvey Dent so weird? Could you enlighten me with your enlightened perspective?

Well citizenk41, I can't speak for ponyboy76 but the first reeason I can think of where a white actor could be better than black would be the issue of makeup. We have no idea what Nolans view is on it but with the Two-Face character I assume will have the split personality face. This may not look as good on a black face - you know - it's easier to paint on a white canvas.

I don't know what race has do with this. Just to stay true to the comic, Harvey Dent was a white guy, anyhow they could have used Billy Dee in Batman:forever if they wanted keep up with burton's view. Anyhow I think Ekhart will be awsome in this role! Just look at performance in Thank You for smoking.

Casting Billy Dee Williams is a weird choice not because he is black but because casting Lando in anything is just plain weird. I keep expecting for the millenium falcon to pop up :)
As far as the casting of Eckhart, i personally i'm a little disappointed not because the guy isn't a good actor(I think he'll do a good job playing Dent) but because i hoped Guy Pearce would've gotten the call.
Be that as it may, I can't wait for this film to come out already!

Eckhart sounds like a good choice.
Robpenco, where in the universe did that comment come from? Why would an actors skin pigment have anything to do with makeup effects? All the thousands of black, asian and hispanic actors who've been vampires,zombies, ghouls or whatever over the years didn't seem to be a problem for artists to create. I don't think skin color came as criteria of what actor Nolan was going to cast in the role for makeup's sake.
As for skin or race in casting for iconic roles, that could be a tricky subject. A black Two-Face, in my opinon, wouldn't matter. Talent does. On the other hand, what if Nolan had cast a black or hispanic Batman? Or Singer had done the same with Superman or Wolverine? I would in honesty have to think about it. These roles already have a set visual image in comics and they are the star role. Certainly any actor, regardless of origin could do it with the right talent. I didn't mind Michael Clarke Duncan as Kingpin in Daredevil. I was only bothered that the character did give me the same "vibe" or "felt sense" as I had with him in the comic, which is a very nebulous thing that had nothing to do with his race. Also, Dean Cain is half asian but that didn't stop him as a perfectly fine Superman for the Lois and Clark series. Could or should ethnicity have anything to do with casting for roles with an already established image? Discuss amongst yourselves while we go to commercial.