Batman: Arkham City's Two-Face pays homage to Dirty Harry

Who's your favorite Two-Face? Is it the tortured schizophrenic of Grant Morrison's Arkham Asylum comic, Batman Forever's uncommonly flamboyant Tommy Lee Jones, or Hush's doomed hero? Rocksteady has just unveiled its take on the character for October's Batman: Arkham City, presented in a none-too-subtle nod to one of the character's stronger influences: Clint Eastwood's maverick-cop classic, Dirty Harry.

Glimpsed in screenshots last year, which made him look like a cross between Nicolas Cage and Marvel's Red Skull, this new Two-Face design offers a better hint at which way Rocksteady looks to take the character. As ex-lawman Harvey Dent, Two-Face is often presented more as a vigilante enforcer than a straight villain. The visual reference to Dirty Harry %26ndash; in which Clint Eastwood plays the original %26ldquo;loose cannon%26rdquo; cop %26ndash; places the game's presentation of the character more in the tradition of the tragic %26ldquo;good man gone bad%26rdquo; seen in The Dark Knight than the out-and-out psychopath of some portrayals. What do you think?

Jul 15, 2011