Batman gotta have a girlfriend. I don’t know why, but this is a pretty big deal for Hollywood. Every Batman movie has had a love interest, and for all the talk about Christopher Nolan doing the best Batman movie (he didn’t), he still kept with this lame, lame tradition.
He is breaking tradition, though, by bringing Batman’s girlfriend – who now stupidly knows his identity – back for The Dark Knight, the sequel to Batman Begins. Except that he’s leaving behind Katie Holmes and recasting the pointless, extraneous love interest. There’s been a ton of back and forth in Dark Knight casting rumors, but Latino Review are staking their rep on a scoop that JJ Abrams is off Star Trek*… oops, I mean that Maggie Gyllenhaal is going to be taking the Rachel Dawes role.
I guess this is good news. Maggie’s a fine actress, but she’s still playing a painfully pointless role in the Batman mythos. Maybe Nolan will be really daring and not have her be menaced by the Joker at any point in the film, but I seriously doubt she’ll be kept away from the A-story. Especially if The Dark Knight follows the pattern of Batman Begins and turns to utter horse shit in the third act. And wait until film three, when she’s sure to be menaced by her boss, Harvey Dent, after he becomes Two-Face!
I imagine that the trades will be confirming this story any day now, if she has signed as Latino Review says. The Dark Knight starts filming this summer.
*Just teasing ya, Kelvin