Nolan’s Original Harvey Dent Plan Would’ve Ruined The Dark Knight

Harvey Dent was arguably the most important character in The Dark Knight, but Christopher Nolan’s original plan for Two-Face would have led to a completely different Dark Knight trilogy. After rebooting the Batman franchise with Batman Begins using only villains that had never appeared in a Batman movie, Nolan brought two major characters in for The Dark Knight who had already appeared on the big screen: the Joker and Harvey Dent. However, Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer’s plans for their Batman movies initially involved introducing Harvey Dent much earlier than that.

While Harvey Dent has been part of some of Batman’s most important comic book stories, such as The Long Halloween and The Dark Knight Returns, the Batman movies had yet to do the character justice. Harvey Dent had a very small role in Batman (1989), and the story Tim Burton had set up for Billy Dee Williams’s Two-Face never got to be made. Two-Face returned in Batman Forever, played by Tommy Lee Jones, but the character was closer to Jack Nicholson’s Joker than to any previous Harvey Dent iteration. From then on, making Two-Face a menacing movie villain became a challenge as difficult as rebooting the Batman franchise.

Following several Batman scripts and pitches that were never picked up, Warner Bros. chose Memento director Christopher Nolan to reboot the Batman franchise. Christopher Nolan pitched his Batman movie as a gritty origin story that would ground the character into some sense of reality, and Blade Trinity director David S. Goyer was brought to co-write the film. According to both Nolan and Goyer, they never took a trilogy of films for granted. In fact, the duo wrote Batman Begins as if it would be their only Batman film. Still, as revealed by the Batman: Behind The Scenes of The Dark Knight Trilogy documentary, Nolan and Goyer discussed ideas for three-act character arcs in case they ever got to make three Batman films. One of those characters was Harvey Dent, to which Nolan and Goyer had discussed giving a three-movie storyline that would have started with Batman Begins.

Harvey Dent Was Supposed To Be In Batman Begins

In Batman Begins, audiences are introduced to Gotham City’s DA Carl Finch, played by Larry Holden. Finch had initially worked in the Joe Chill case before Bruce Wayne became Batman, and while Joel Chill did help with the Falcone case, that was not enough to keep Gotham’s main crime boss arrested for too long. Finch had failed in combating Gotham’s mob, the perfect setup for Batman to start his crusade. Batman Begins’ Carl Finch is eventually killed halfway through the movie, but the original plan was for Gotham City’s DA to be Harvey Dent. Nolan and Goyer wanted to introduce Harvey Dent in Batman Begins as a supporting character only, and while Dent would obviously not be killed, his role in the movie would have been pretty much the same as Carl Finch’s. The connection between Rachel and Harvey would have been set up already in Batman Begins, and Harvey Dent would then return in The Dark Knight.

Two-Face Could Have Returned In The Dark Knight Rises

Considering how the idea was for Harvey Dent to have a three-movie arc, Two-Face would have returned for The Dark Knight Rises. Harvey Dent’s transformation into Two-Face would have still happened in The Dark Knight, but Dent would have survived the events of the film. Nolan’s planned third Batman film would have then featured a more established Two-Face as the main villain. It’s important to notice that the initial Harvey Dent plan was outlined when Batman Begins was still being written, which means the third Batman film envisioned by Nolan and Goyer was likely very different from what The Dark Knight Rises turned out to be.

Why It’s Better Harvey Dent Was An One-Off Character

Although having Harvey Dent in all three Nolan Batman films could have made for a more comic-accurate Two-Face, Dent worked perfectly as a one-off character. Batman Begins was supposed to show how Gotham City was failing in combating the mob, therefore it would not make much sense to have Harvey Dent in the movie. In the comics, Harvey Dent is initially Gotham’s biggest hope against organized crime. Before becoming Two-Face, Harvey Dent had become feared by Gotham City’s criminals without wearing a mask – something that The Dark Knight adapted perfectly. For Batman Begins’ League of Shadows story to work in that scenario, Harvey Dent would have to fail – which would completely undermine his role in The Dark Knight. Most of the Joker’s “plan” in The Dark Knight revolved around taking down Gotham’s biggest hope for a better future, a story that would not work had Dent failed in Batman Begins.

Likewise, having Two-Face survive the events of The Dark Knight would have also been a mistake. The Dark Knight’s entire message was about how Batman could do what others could not – how he could be both a hero and a villain in the eyes of the public. Batman taking the blame for Harvey Dent’s actions at the end of The Dark Knight made the entire movie come full circle, and that only happened because Two-Face was no longer alive. There had to be some sort of consequence for what the Joker did – which is why Harvey Dent’s death in The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises’ eight-year time jump both works.

Nolan Treating Each Dark Knight Film Individually Made The Trilogy Better

The reason why Nolan and Goyer ended up not using Harvey Dent in the three films was that they were not sure if they would get to make three films. Nolan and Goyer realized that having Harvey Dent in Batman Begins without ever getting the chance to finish his story would be a waste, which is why Harvey Dent’s role was eventually given to Carl Finch. Likewise, Christopher Nolan, David S. Goyer, and Jonathan Nolan treated The Dark Knight as if it was their last Batman movie, and therefore Harvey Dent’s story had to be wrapped up.

While that approach could sound disappointing compared to more expansive franchises like the MCU and the DCEU, treating each film as if it was the last one is what made Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy so good. Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises work as three parts of the same story, but they also work perfectly as standalone films. Avoiding returning antagonists and focusing on entirely different stories made each of Nolan’s Batman films unique, while ensuring that every Batman villain was justified to be there. Batman having a gallery of returning villains is exciting and has been a part of the comics for decades, but it would not have worked for Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy – especially regarding a character like Harvey Dent.