Before I move on with new news, let me briefly revisit Batman again: Latino Review, who scored the first Batman Begins script review and scooped the casting of Brandon Routh as Superman in Superman Returns, are reporting that Aaron Eckhart is the new top choice to play Harvey Dent — the Gotham D.A. who will become Two Face — alongside Christian Bale’s Batman and Heath Ledger’s Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. LR also mentions that Maggie Gyllenhaal has joined the ranks of actresses tipped to replace the departed Katie Holmes. I’d love to see Maggie Gyllenhaal in a Batman movie, but not as Rachel Dawes (or even a similar role to the one Rachel played in Begins). Maggie has a timeless kind of sexy that would be perfect for Selina “Catwoman” Kyle; she’s long been my top choice for the part, though nobody knows if Nolan’s Batman universe will even get around to Catwoman. Michelle Pfeiffer was awesome in Burton’s Batman Returns, but the character was nothing like the Catwoman from the comics. Maggie Gyllenhaal would perfectly embody the real Selina Kyle. Meow. As for Eckhart, he was pure evil in Neil LaBute’s In the Company of Men. He’s an awesome actor and a good lookin’ dude, and he’d be perfect for Dent in Batman. Sign the contract and let’s get this thing rolling.

Okay.

On to other things.

I like Joss Whedon. I didn’t watch Buffy or Angel, but I loved Firefly and its feature film finale, Serenity. I was among those hopeful that he’d get the X-Men 3 gig after Bryan Singer left, based on Whedon’s excellent stories in Marvel’s Astonishing X-Men comic. He’s always had a well-deserved reputation for writing strong female characters, which made me quite happy when it was announced that he’d be writing and directing a new Wonder Woman movie.

But Whedon admitted in interviews that he was having trouble with the script, leading up to his announcement yesterday that he’s now off the project. I’d love to know what he had in store for the character. Who knows? Grey’s Anatomy producer/writer Allan Heinberg has been writing the best Wonder Woman story I’ve read in years in the comics right now; I’d love to see him get a crack at writing the movie.

The saddest thing about this is that Whedon revealed the actress he wanted for Wonder Woman.

Cobie Smulders, best known for her role on the CBS series How I Met Your Mother. She’s a vision of fresh-faced, blue-eyed perfection, and I’d have loved to have seen her decked out in the red, gold and blue. Oh, well. Maybe she can still play the part with another director? We’ll see.

Then there’s the announcement by David Goyer on his MySpace page that his Flash movie is now dead in the water at Warner Bros.

Gar!

Goyer wrote the Blade movies and co-wrote Batman Begins with Christopher Nolan. He’s got a great grasp on making the most far-out concepts seem real, without losing their inherent sense of wonder. He was working with real physicists on the Flash script to make sure the science was right and tight. Better yet, he wanted Ryan Reynolds to play the Flash. Which would have been awesome, because Reynolds is great in everything he does. (I’m sorry, Melissa, but this means you probably won’t get to see sexy Ryan Reynolds in the glistening crimson tights. But you can imagine it, just as I’m imagining Cobie Smulders as Wonder Woman. Delicious.)

Oh, well. I hope these projects end up in equally capable hands. More news as it happens.

Production has begun on the Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight, and news is minimal. (Director Christopher Nolan recently said that he views making movies like writing novels; you wouldn’t expect an author to release chapters of his book before the release date, would you?)

What we know for certain is that Christian Bale returns as Bruce Wayne/Batman, and man, I can’t wait to see this guy in action again. Bale is the kind of actor who gives 100% physical and emotional dedication to a role, and the reason I love Batman Begins so much is that Nolan and Bale figured out a way to get to the heart of Bruce Wayne without compromising the seriousness of Batman’s mission. Anybody can relate to Peter Parker, whose best is never enough no matter how hard he tries. It’s much harder to make a billionaire accessible, but Bale and Nolan knocked it out of the park.

Sir Michael Caine is back as Bruce’s butler, Alfred Pennyworth, and Gary Oldman wears the Gotham City badge once again as Lt. James Gordon.

The Joker is the big villain this time around, with Heath Ledger slipping behind the white face of Batman’s most heinous adversary. Ledger has said that the Joker will be the ultimate anarchist with a creepy Clockwork Orange kind of vibe to how they’re approaching him. I can’t wait. What I like best about Heath’s casting is that I can’t see him as the Joker. And I like that. I like that whatever we get, it’ll be something we’re not expecting. Bring it on.

Rumors abound that Gotham City cop Renee Montoya will appear; she’s long been a staple of the Batman comics and cartoons. My suggestion would be Jennifer Lopez, who’s one of the best actresses on the planet but gets zero credit for it. She’s so natural on film, and I’d love to see her playing Renee. Cast Mekhi Phifer as her partner, Crispus Allen, and I’ll be in heaven; Montoya and Allen were the Benson and Stabler of Gotham City long before SVU was a gleam in sweet Mariska Hargitay’s eye. Assuming, of course, that Renee’s even going to be in it in the first place.

Unfortunately, Katie Holmes will not be returning as Bruce’s childhood friend Rachel Dawes. Instead, she’s going to make a comedy with Queen Latifah. Um, okay. I don’t mind Rachel not being in the film; in fact, I’d rather see the film not be bogged down by too many characters.

But.

Casting rumors posted right here by the in-the-know cats at Latino Review suggest that even though Katie’s out, Rachel remains in, which means … recasting. And I hope they’re not stupid enough to do that. Rachel was the only female character in Batman Begins, and to recast the part would be senseless and distracting.

Lots of critics and Batman fans went out of their way to trash Katie’s performance in Begins, but I honestly think most of them did so because they thought it made them sound cool and hip to trash somebody connected to Tom Cruise. And that’s such a shame, because Katie delivered exactly what the role asked for. Rachel was a voice of reason and goodness from Bruce’s past, and Katie hit the mark perfectly. I love the scene in the kitchen, when Christian and Katie are playing several-years-younger versions of Bruce and Rachel. Katie totally sells that she’s “younger” in that scene than in the rest of the film; there’s an exuberance in that kitchen scene that’s still there in the later scenes, but tempered by her age and the sadness she feels that Gotham City is slipping away. I love everything about the character of Rachel and I love everything about Katie’s performance. I can’t imagine the role being recast, and for the sake of the film I hope the rumors to that effect prove to be false.

Latino Review also says that Matt Damon turned down the role of District Attorney Harvey Dent. Harvey is kind of like the Batman of the Gotham City judicial system; he stands up fearlessly to the mobsters and corrupt officials who ruled the city before Batman’s arrival. In fact, Harvey is such a bad-ass that Gordon suspects he’s Batman. But when a mobster on the witness stand tosses acid in Harvey’s face, the trauma unleashes a split personality and Harvey becomes Two Face, a tragic, twisted villain who makes extreme decisions about right and wrong based on the flip of a coin. I can really see Matt Damon for this role, and if he did indeed turn it down I hope it goes to someone equally talented. Ed Norton has been rumored, and even Jamie Foxx has had his name thrown around by those in the know. (Though that would probably render useless any “Gordon thinks Dent is Batman” storyline. Hey, it didn’t stop Billy Dee Williams from playing Dent in the first Burton/Keaton Batman. Though Joel Schumacher sure did, when he replaced Billy Dee with Tommy Lee Jones in the mostly abysmal Batman Forever.) Another rumored Dent candidate is Eion Bailey, who auditioned against Bale and to play Batman. This rumor makes a lot of sense, given that Nolan cast another Batman candidate, Cillian Murphy, as The Scarecrow in Begins. (I’m still reeling from the fact that we got a Batman movie with Liam Neeson as Ra’s Al Ghul and a top-caliber guy like Cillian as the infinitely-creepy-because-Murphy-made-him-so Scarecrow.)

I trust everyone involved with the production. I just hope that they don’t recast Rachel and choose instead to turn Katie’s departure into an opportunity to focus more on the other characters.

The Dark Knight will kick your ass and mine on July 18, 2008.