I am disappointed, since it sucks to think that one of Batman's greatest villains only existed in the movie world for a couple of days. But on the other hand, at least the movie did him justice. And having him alive would require some convoluted explanations. At least what we did get washed away the stain of Joel Schumacher's terrible Two-Face.

I am very curious about how the Joker would have worked into the third movie. I think Nolan should just bite the bullet and recast him. It won't be easy, as Ledger gave such a great performance, but perhaps he can find someone who can smoothly fit into the role. Yeah, people are gonna be hard on that choice, but the fact is there's nothing we can do about Ledger's death and the Joker is a core part of the Batman universe. Not using him again out of fear that people will only accept Ledger in the role is pretty silly. I could understand them waiting until the fourth movie to do that, though.

What's good, at least, is that if Nolan does decide he wants Two-Face back, he left just the slightest amount of ambiguity that it could happen. Namely, Dent was still alive and Gordon had him locked away somewhere without Batman's knowledge to preserve his reputation and keep him the hell away from his family. That doesn't need to happen and would take some finesse to not have it not seem contrived and unrealistic, but the opening is there, especially if the Joker has to go on hold. I am curious as to what else could be done with Dent's character. It's easy to say there's nothing more in the context of the films, but I'm sure a good writer would imagine something.

Man, that's right up there with "Is Deckard a replicant?" debate being officially quashed by Ridley Scott.

He was a replicant, wasn't he?

"he Joker was planned to be part of the third movie, but Heath Ledger's death screwed all that up."

Sure, We have to sit through 4 different Batman castings so for (only 2 of which played him well) But heaven help us if we have to recast the Joker.

Yes, Harvey dent is dead. Two face is not though. In all the comic books and cartoons there was always a period of time where two face was the person in charge of Dent's body. After some time though Harvey's memories come back and they are once again two people in one body.

Dammit! You mean Two Face is dead?! Two Face is my favorite Batman villian and thats all I'm gonna get? The news that Two Face face is dead: DO NOT WANT!

Also do not want to see this movie again and wish they could take it back. The Jokers plan to turn Dent made no sense at all to me.

I thought it was strange that at the end of TDK, neither the Batman nor Commissioner Gordon checked Dent's pulse or listened for faint breathing - something to verify 100% that he was dead. It would have been one thing if Dent had fallen onto concrete or a hard object, which would have splattered his brains, but he appears to have fallen onto dirt. I watched closely two more times, to try and decode whether Dent could still be alive - the only way it could be is if they flashed forward to Gordon's "eulogy" - without revealing that after Batman speeds away on his motorcycle, Dent lets out a moan - at which point Gordon covers up the fact that Dent is alive, and conspires with Batman to have Dent rehabilitated in secret somewhere. Like a witness protection program for the criminally insane. Side notes - Gordon certainly appeared to be dead during the attempted assassination of the mayor. The look on his main man's face certainly led us to believe he had been slain and that the damage was unmistakable. They undid that with a little sleight of hand - but for Dent to be alive, I could only see a scenario like I have described - which would be more disingenuous, and would likely damage the movie, making it almost non-credible. Seperately - HATED Tommy Lee Jones's Harvey Dent, it was awful. Eckhardt was fantastic, just flawless - perfect. Separately - the Joker MUST be re-cast, maybe not in the next sequel, but the one after that. The Joker is clearly Batman's best villain, and essential - it's just not fair to remove the character from the story. Although it will take someone with major balls to step into the role, someone will need to. I hope Chris Nolan comes back - although, this film was so fantastic, he may be afraid to, because the public will inevitably compare the next one at least somewhat unfavorably. But just because it would be an incredibly tough challenge to make the next movie as great as this one, that's not a legitimate reason not to do it. Depending on Nolan's level of confidence, and ability to conjure up an equally good story, the greatness of the TDK could present him with a professional challenge he feels compelled to rise to. If Nolan isn't at the helm of the next one, I'd almost favor there not being a next one. The bar has been set sky-high, and someone like Ratner isn't close to up to the challenge..