Batman: 6 characters Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy got right

Batman: 6 characters Christopher Nolan’s movies got right

PERTH, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 12: Film goers watch The Dark Knight featuring Heath Ledger during a public tribute outdoor movie night to the late actor at Burswood Park on February 12, 2011 in Perth, Australia. Australian actor Heath Ledger won a posthumous Oscar for his portrayal of the Joker in the movie The Dark Knight. Ledger died from an accidental toxic combination of prescription drugs on January 22, 2008. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images) /

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5. Harvey Dent / Two-Face

In The Dark Knight Christopher Nolan presented Harvey Dent / Two-Face as the perfect antithesis to Bruce Wayne / Batman. While the public viewed Bruce Wayne by day as a self-centered playboy, he was out saving their lives by night as The Batman. With Harvey Dent, he was depicted as Gotham’s White Knight and the savior of their dreams, only to become a nightmare when everything (including half of his face) was stripped away from him.

Nolan had a long ways to go to give Harvey Dent a believable, serious, and compelling portrayal when the last time we saw Dent on the big screen, Tommy Lee Jones was two-stepping in a purple suit. Not only did Nolan do just that, he made Dent out to be someone we can’t help but sympathize with, even in his downfall.

Behind the charming exterior and the mandible jaw, Dent was just a good soul who wanted to do right by his city. And when he felt as though the city failed him in not saving the love of his life, that soul turned black and he set out to burn the same Gotham that he believed burned him first.

It’s a tragic, wonderfully told rise and fall story that held weight in our eyes without being overshadowed by a scene stealing Joker.

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