Beaks here...

Though I thought it was incredibly apparent that Harvey Dent/Two-Face was dead at the end of THE DARK KNIGHT, there are those who insist that he's not "movie dead" because we don't follow the character's corpse from embalming to interment (as has been the custom since Porter's THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY). Since I was fortunate enough to snag an interview with Aaron Eckhart today at the TOWELHEAD junket, I decided to ask him what he thought about such speculation.

Beaks: And now the obligatory question: can you conceive of any way in which you might be back in--

Aaron Eckhart: (Laughs) No.

Beaks: Not a chance?

Eckhart: No. I'm dead. I couldn't even get the words out of my mouth. "Hey, Chris, am I--?" "No. You're dead. You're dead."

Beaks: Because there has been a discussion amongst some fans about how he's never seen in the coffin.

Eckhart: Well, it'd be easier than anything to bring him back, but... it's like Chris said on the tour. He wasn't thinking about the next movie when he made [THE DARK KNIGHT]. All the vegetables were in this stew. I think that this franchise has shown that it doesn't have to bring back characters. I mean, there's still Catwoman. I've heard Angelina Jolie really wants to do Catwoman; I think that's a fantastic idea. I'll be a happy audience member this time.

And what's gone on with Heath and everything... I think Heath was the one that was going to come back. And since he can't... (Pauses) You know, Chris hasn't said that he's going to make another one.

Beaks: True. He's been on vacation. I spoke to David Goyer at Comic Con, and he said there have been no discussions.

Eckhart: (Smiling) He never said he's going to make another one. I'm sure they drove the Brinks truck up to his house and dumped money on his lawn. But I think Chris wants to go out and make other movies, too. And he should. He's an independent filmmaker at heart. He's got a lot of ideas.

Beaks: He's also got THE PRISONER somewhere in development. Maybe there would be something for you in that?

Eckhart: Give him a call. I mean, I'd love to work with Chris again. But he and Christian [Bale] have such a great thing going.

Case closed.

I'll have more TOWELHEAD related commentary from Eckhart next week.