Two-Face and the Riddler get stoned together

[thehefner]

A "lost" scene from BATMAN FOREVER:





See, this? This is what happens when you have Denny O'Neil write your adaptation.

Comments

[psychopathicus_rex]

I have fond memories of that movie - it was pretty much what introduced me to superhero comics. I had a pretty big attitude about them back when I was smaller, then around fourteen or so, I picked up 'BR' at the local flea market, and I was like WHOA. This is AWESOME; I gotta check these guys out! And the rest is history. I've since come to understand its flaws in regards to what it does to the characters and so forth, but I still think that it holds up extremely well as a self-contained movie. (Also, I would have loved to have seen what Burton would have done with Two-Face and the Riddler.)

[thehefner]

A Burton Two-Face would have been fascinating, especially with Billy Dee, but man oh man am I glad they didn't go with their original plan and have Harvey Dent in the Max Schreck role.

[psychopathicus_rex]

As Two-Face, you mean, or just as an antagonist?

[thehefner]

No, I mean, as Harvey Dent: corrupt politician who tried to kill Selina, who would have been turned into Two-Face at the end.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Oh. Yeah, that would have sucked, especially given his characterization in the previous film. I could see it working, however, if he were simply being overzealous in his job - he could be torn between 'we must stop these crooks!' and 'all this vigilantism is doing Gotham no good'. Basically, between pragmatism and sticking to the books, which later could lead to the more traditional dichotomy. This could hinder Batman's efforts considerably - he could be going 'we don't need you, the police will handle this, you're affecting police morale, blah blah!', and devoting time and manpower to hunting him down while the Penguin and Catwoman run amok. (In the scene where the ice princess is killed and bats fly everywhere, he could see this as being vindicated in his efforts - see, Batman IS a bad guy!) Eventually, he could realize the error of his ways at the masked ball that Penguin crashes, and in an attempt to 'atone', he could follow Catwoman to the Penguin's lair, and try to off both of them, effectively becoming a vigilante himself, before getting caught in the exploding AC machine, as Shreck was, only instead of being turned into a crispy-fried corpse, he survives - but not unharmed, oh no, only HALF harmed... (This also gives Batman's line 'we're the same, split right down the center' a whole new meaning'.)
As for the role of Shreck, who Harvey would eclipse, he could still be Selina's boss and the one who kills her, but his role could be considerably diminished - he could simply be a weaselly little bureaucrat at City Hall or whatever whom Selina works under as a secretary - perhaps he could work as Harvey's assistant, yes? He's one of those nasty types who has very little power, but wields what little he has as a club to pummel those lower-ranking than him - in this case, mainly Selina. The Penguin could kidnap him as before, wanting him to pull some legal strings to allow him to 'reemerge' with a minimum of hassle, and, dazed and frightened from his experience, he could return to City Hall, where Selina is still working late, and he could take his feelings of powerlessness out on her; things would get out of hand, and she could plummet out the window and be reanimated by cats as before. Therefore, when she returns as Catwoman, she isn't simply getting back at all vestiges of her old life, as before, she's specifically targeting the cops and city authorities, whom she believes are all like Shreck (who she could kill early on, thereby getting him out of the way). It would take Batman interfering to make her eventually realize the error of her ways.