The three faces of Two-Face

One of my favorite weekly columns is Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed. Its contents are geeky, but sometimes the fodder for good cocktail conversations. Take, for example, this recent revelation about Billie Dee Williams' failed efforts to play Two-Face in the old "Batman" films...

When Williams signed on to play Harvey Dent in the first Batman film, as part of his contract, he was signed on to play Two-Face if/when the Batman films decided to use the villain. However, when Tim Burton decided to pass on Batman Forever, the second sequel to the film, incoming director Joel Schumacher did not want Williams for the role, so the producers instead paid Williams his fee for the film for NOT appearing in the movie as Two-Face. That led to Tommy Lee Jones becoming Two-Face.

Interestingly, the workaround didn't begin there. It actually began during "Batman Returns." As the column explains...

Williams was originally going to be in Batman Returns, as well, to set up his role as Two-Face, and those scenes were cut from the film (prior to filming, I believe). So Williams may also have been paid to not appear in Batman Returns, as well.

Although it would have been interesting to see Williams' take on the classic villain, we got a good performance from Tommy Lee Jones in "Batman Forever." Of course, we got an even better performance from Aaron Eckhart in "The Dark Knight," but that's neither here nor there.

Anyway... If your circle of friends include a comic geek or two, I'd suggest taking a look at Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed. Read it and you might just be able to beat the geek at their own game.