Phil Lord and Chris Miller returned to produce The LEGO Batman Movie after helming The LEGO Movie for Warner Bros., and the dynamic duo promised the standalone film will pay tribute to the cinematic legacy of the character. That includes nods to all the incarnations of Batman, as well as a variety of DC Comics characters. As an added bonus, director Chris McKay promised there’ll be another nod to Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman in the film: Billy Dee Williams. The actor portrayed Harvey Dent in Burton’s film, which starred Michael Keaton as The Dark Knight. According to McKay over Twitter, Williams will play the character’s villainous counterpart, Two-Face, in a voice role for LEGO Batman. No other details were revealed, but we’re guessing it’ll probably be a small part. When asked by a fan if Williams would get the chance to play Two-Face, McKay responded simply: — Chris McKay (@buddboetticher) November 30, 2016 The main antagonist in the film will be Joker (voiced by Zach Galifianakis), who’s planning a hostile takeover of Gotham City.
That means he’ll need his own army, which is probably where Two-Face comes in. Harley Quinn was already announced to appear in mini form, via actress Jenny Slate, and the latest trailer showed a scene of Joker assembling various villainous figures. After Williams’ role in Batman, early drafts of the sequel, 1992’s Batman Returns, saw the return of Dent in a storyline that would’ve seen his Two-Face transformation and set him up as the villain for the third film. That, obviously, didn’t happen. Speaking at Wizard World Nashville Comic Con in 2013, Williams remarked, “I had hoped that I would have done Two-Face, but it changed hands before then, and I think Schumacher got involved. So they took a different direction with that.” The LEGO Batman Movie returns Will Arnett as the voice of The Caped Crusader, with a screenplay penned by Seth Grahame-Smith, Chris McKenna, and Erik Sommers. Ralph Fiennes (Alfred), Rosario Dawson (Barbara Gordon/Batgirl), Michael Cera (Dick Grayson/Robin), and Mariah Carey (Gotham Mayor McCaskill) help round out the principal cast, while the trailers and promos also featured appearances by Superman, Wonder Woman, and other members of the Justice League.
Channing Tatum voiced the Man of Steel in The LEGO Movie alongside Cobie Smulders as Wonder Woman, and Jonah Hill as Green Lantern, but it’s unclear if they’ll reprise these roles. The LEGO Batman Movie will hit theaters on February 10th.In 1989, Billy Dee Williams showed up in Tim Burton’s Batman as Harvey Dent, Gotham’s District Attorney and the man who eventually becomes Two Face. Unfortunately, Williams never got to become Two Face, and was replaced by Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Forever. Now, The Lego Batman Movie is looking to right this wrong. The film’s makers have announced that Billy Dee Williams will voice Two Face in the forthcoming animated film. Director Chris McKay broke the news via Twitter, responding to a fan who asked “please tell me Billy Dee Williams voices Two Face?” McKay’s reply makes it fairly clear: He does https://t.co/sf1×4NtRzS— Chris McKay (@buddboetticher) November 30, 2016 It’s unclear how big Williams’ role in the film will be, but some Two Face is better than none.
His casting only adds to the fervor surrounding The Lego Batman Movie, which looks to follow up on the extraordinary critical and commercial success of The Lego Movie. Will Arnett returns to voice Batman, and is joined by a wonderful voice cast including Ralph Fiennes as Alfred Pennyworth, Michael Cera as Robin, Zach Galifianakis as The Joker, Rosario Dawson as Batgirl and Jenny Slate as Harley Quinn. The Lego Batman Movie is set to hit theaters on Feb. 10, 2017. Until then, check out the film’s latest trailer here.It only took 28 years, but Billy Dee Williams — who is best known for playing smooth-talking Lando Calrissian in the original Star Wars trilogy and being the best Colt 45 spokesman of all-time — is finally getting to play the iconic Batman villain: Two-Face. When Williams signed on to play Gotham City District Attorney Harvey Dent in Tim Burton's Batman (1989), it was only a one-picture deal, but he had hoped that if the film was a hit, which it was, he would eventually get a chance to tackle Dent's physically and mentally deformed alter-ego in a future installment.
However, when Two-Face was introduced in Batman Forever (1995) — the third film in the series — director Joel Schumacher chose Oscar-winner Tommy Lee Jones to play the coin-tossing bad guy. Righting that wrong, The LEGO Batman Movie brought in Williams to voice Two-Face. How does Williams feel about that? "Well, it’s pretty ironic, I guess," the 79-year-old actor told THR. "Considering I originally played Harvey Dent with the hopes of playing Two-Face and here I am doing Two-Face in a Lego movie. And if he was given a chance to play Two-Face in Batman Forever, what would have been his approach? "Well, I never got to really work on it," he said. "I just thought it would have been really interesting. Tommy Lee Jones was really great, and he’s one of my favorite actors, but I thought it would have been a kind of a departure and it would have been different. You win some, you lose some. I remember as a kid reading the Batman comics and seeing what the character was through illustration.
The whole idea of a nice-looking guy ending up with a horrible disfigured look was pretty intriguing to me. It was like playing out two personalities. In the Lego Movie, it’s really hard to really talk about it because it’s in pieces, but the character, it’s not like doing a feature film in that sense. There’s more of an animated feeling to it." In the irreverent spirit of fun that made The LEGO Movie a worldwide phenomenon, the self-described leading man of that ensemble – LEGO Batman – stars in his own big-screen adventure. But there are big changes brewing in Gotham, and if he wants to save the city from The Joker’s hostile takeover, Batman may have to drop the lone vigilante thing, try to work with others and maybe, just maybe, learn to lighten up. The LEGO Batman Movie will open in theaters on February 10, 2017. MORE: The LEGO Batman Movie Voice Cast Revealed / LEGO Batman Reveals Why He Got His Own Movie In New Featurette / New LEGO BrickHeadz Announced Featuring Marvel And DC Superheroes / Spare Time TV Spot Released / Family TV Spot Released / Character Posters Released / Two New Lego Batman Clips Released / Comic Book Movies To Look Forward To In 2017 / LEGO Batman Wishes Happy New Year To All