Is Scarlett Johansson Playing a Classic Batman Villain?

Mike threw down the gauntlet the other day. He wrote about the first of what will surely be a long list of rumors surrounding Scarlett Johansson’s alleged casting in The Batman 2. The former Avenger has reportedly joined the film after the exit of Zoe Kravitz, and people are pretty sure she won’t be playing Catwoman. But, to be frank, we just don’t know! That’s exciting! She could be anybody, but according to the first rumor, she’ll be playing the wife of a classic Batman villain.

Jeff Sneider alleged that Johansson will be playing Gilda Gold, who eventually becomes Gilda Dent, wife of Harvey Dent, AKA Two-Face. Like Mike, I don’t buy this rumor. Even if the next movie is inspired by the story The Long Halloween, in which Gilda is revealed to be a murderer, I don’t see ScarJo jumping onto the film just to be Dent’s wife. However, I think there may be a kernel of truth hidden inside this rumor. ScarJo may be playing a Dent after all.

2012 saw the release of Batman: Earth One, a graphic novel that took place in a universe that was free of continuity. It was one in a line of books that presented some of DC’s classic characters as if they were created that week instead of decades prior. All of them featured twists on classic villains, with some being more drastic than others. Harvey Dent’s Earth One counterpart does not survive the accident that turns him into Two-Face, but his twin sister does.

The graphic novel series introduces the world to Jessica Dent. Jessica is a former classmate and potential love interest for Bruce Wayne. When her brother Harvey is burned to death, she holds him close and ends up burning her face, leaving her scarred and with a split personality. She ends up committing crimes as “Harvey Dent,” and while she’s never called Two-Face directly, that’s essentially who she is, and I think that’s who Scarlett Johansson will end up playing.

Almost all of the live-action Batman adaptations have borrowed from the Earth One series since its release. It’s that series that gave us an Alfred who is a gruff former military man. So, taking the Two-Face idea would make sense, especially since it was only properly introduced in the books within the last four years. Director Matt Reeves has said that this film’s villain hasn’t been done onscreen before, and while I do think people would be mad if that simply referred to the gender-swapping aspect of it all, it would only be a handful of folks.

While people like me may know about Jessica Dent, it would still feel like fertile ground to an audience of casual moviegoers. The role would also give Johansson something far more substantial to chew on. There’s plenty that could be done with Gilda Gold, but letting Johansson be a mustache-twirling Batman villain would be way more fun, as long as they don’t wait until the last twenty minutes to let her go all out. Just kill Harvey Dent by the end of act one, let ScarJo get all scarred up and villainous, and baby, you got a stew goin’.