Two-Face

**Harvey Dent**, later known as **Two-Face**, is a fictional character from the superhero films *Batman* (1989) and *Batman Forever* (1995), adapted from the DC Comics supervillain of the same name. In the first film, Harvey is a supporting character (played by Billy Dee Williams) is introduced as the newly elected district attorney of Gotham City, who vows to lock up crime boss Carl Grissom. By the end of the film, he becomes an ally of Batman and Commissioner Gordon in their war on crime. However, at least two years before the events of *Batman Forever*, Harvey is hideously scarred on the left side of his face after mob boss Sal Maroni throws acidic chemicals at him during a court trial. He subsequently goes insane and becomes the criminal "Two-Face", who is obsessed with the number two and the concept of duality and uses a two-headed coin which was also damaged on one side by the acid to make decisions. During the film, Two-Face (portrayed by Tommy Lee Jones) allies with the Riddler to learn Batman's secret identity and exact revenge on him for failing to save him.

While this version of Two-Face is a much more faithful adaptation of the comic book character than most other villains from the 1990s *Batman* film series, he is depicted as more comedic rather than threatening, and is responsible for the death of Dick Grayson's family and his subsequent transformation into Robin (a role which is filled by mob boss Tony Zucco in the comics). Although *Batman Forever* received mixed reviews, Tommy Lee Jones' portrayal of Two-Face was praised.

This version of Two-Face returned in a comic book series titled *Batman '89*, which continued the stories of the first two *Batman* films directed by Tim Burton while retconning *Batman Forever* and its 1997 sequel, *Batman & Robin*. As such, the character of Two-Face was reimagined, and remodeled to resemble Billy Dee Williams, as in *The Lego Batman Movie* (2017). The comic book was launched by DC in August 2021.

## Film appearances

### *Batman* (1989)

In the first *Batman* film, Harvey Dent is introduced as the new district attorney of Gotham City, who is ordered by Mayor Borg (Lee Wallace) to work with Commissioner Gordon (Pat Hingle) to make the city safer. Dent and Gordon look into front companies used by crime boss Carl Grissom (Jack Palance), and were close to having him convicted. However, Grissom destroys evidence, including attempting to kill his own right-hand man Jack Napier (Jack Nicholson), before they are able to do so. After Napier, as the Joker, murders Grissom and takes over his operations, Dent and his department attempt to bring him down, but their efforts are once again mostly useless, mainly because they do not know the Joker's identity at the time. After Batman (Michael Keaton) kills the Joker and the GCPD apprehends his remaining men, Dent receives a letter from the vigilante, promising that he will continue to protect Gotham from crime, and telling them to use the Bat-Signal to summon him in times of need.

### *Batman Forever* (1995)

Harvey's origins as Two-Face are explained via a brief television news segment in *Batman Forever*. During the trial of Sal Maroni (Dennis Paladino), the crime boss throws acid on Harvey's left side of his face, damaging not only his face but also his brain. This incident breaks the district attorney's psyche, and he becomes the criminal Two-Face. Maroni's fate is left unknown, although he was probably murdered by Two-Face like in the comics. Two-Face uses a scarred two headed coin to make his decisions.

Two-Face refers to himself in the plural, and has a moll for each side of his personality - the angelic Sugar (Drew Barrymore) for his "good" side, and the tempestuous "Spice" (Debi Mazar) for his "bad" side. He also swears revenge against Batman (Val Kilmer) for failing to save him. After defusing a hostage situation orchestrated by Two-Face, Batman pursues him to the statue of Lady Gotham, but Two-Face escapes. Later, Two-Face and his henchmen attack Haly's Circus and during a hostage situation, he murders Dick Grayson's (Chris O'Donnell) family, who were helping to get rid of a bomb rigged to explode at the annual Gotham Circus for the social elite unless Batman revealed his identity. Following this, Dick is taken in as a ward of Bruce Wayne's and becomes Robin, wishing to kill Two-Face in revenge, which goes against Batman's code.

Two-Face eventually teams up with Edward Nygma (Jim Carrey) to learn Batman's secret identity. They commit a series of robberies to finance Nygma's new company and mass-produce his brainwave device, the “Box”, which secretly steals information from users’ minds. Nygma hosts a party where he goads Bruce into using the Box, before Two-Face unexpectedly arrives. As Batman, Bruce pursues Two-Face and is nearly killed, but Dick rescues him. Having discovered Batman's identity, Two-Face and Nygma later attack the Batcave, shoot Bruce, and kidnap his love interest Dr. Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman). Batman and Robin infiltrate Nygma's lair to rescue her, but get separated and the latter is also captured after encountering Two-Face and deciding to spare him. After Batman rescues Chase and Robin and defeats Nygma, Two-Face confronts them and flips his coin to decide their fate. Batman throws a handful of coins into the air, causing Two-Face to panic and fall to his apparent.