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:
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.
