Robert Pattinson's The Batman may be the talk of the multiplexes at present but the Caped Crusader's definitive big screen outing remains Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight.
Released in 2008 to critical and commercial acclaim, Nolan's film exceeded all expectations with the late Heath Ledger delivering a career defining performance as Batman's most iconic villain, The Joker, in a turn that earned him a deserved posthumous Best Supporting Actor Oscar.
The film also chronicled the downfall of Gotham District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) who becomes the psychotic supervillain Two-Face, a character known for the hideous scarring running down the left side of his face, brought to life on the big screen in terrifying detail.
Going on to earn over a billion dollars at the box office, The Dark Knight has been revisited by fans countless times in the near-decade-and-a-half since its release—and viewers are still finding fascinating details to pore over.
The latest one came to light in a post shared to Reddit's Movie Details page by Spider-Fan77, which quickly gained traction online earning over 44,000 upvotes on the social media platform.
Sharing a screenshot of Gary Oldman's Police Commissioner Jim Gordon sitting in Dent's office, the eagle-eyed fan spotted a key bit of background scenery that hints at the grisly fate that awaits the district attorney.
Writing alongside the post, they explain "the books in Harvey Dent's office are neat and organized on the left side, but are messy and disorganized on the right side, foreshadowing Harvey's eventual transformation into Two-Face."
The subtle discovery left many stunned at never noticing this kind of detail before.
Seemypinky noted the "juxtaposition" of the "neat and orderly" law books on one side and the "messy" case files on the other. "It illustrates the struggle between Harvey Dent's idealism about the law and his duty to provide justice, law and order amidst the corrupt infrastructure of Gotham City," they wrote.
Vaeon agreed, describing it as "The difference is between the rigid confines of the law, bound by logic and reason on the left side, and the chaotic brutality of life shown in the case files."
FancyRancid felt it was no coincidence that Oldman's Gordon was "stuck in the middle" either. Some were stunned at having never noticed it. "I have seen this movie easily 40-50 times and haven't caught this," Silent_Boy said. Frs1023 also commented: "after almost 14 years, and there's still stuff i missed from the film. awesome detail!"
Doc_55lk, meanwhile, called it "a super cool detail/piece of subtle visual storytelling [and] I hadn't noticed it until now but I don't think I'll ever be able to unsee it." NovaStubble also wrote: "Nolan movies are worth rewatching so many times."
It's not the first time a Batman fan has pointed to Nolan using foreshadowing to hint at what he has in store for Eckhart's character.
Another Reddit user previously highlighted a scene in which Dent interrogates a low-level criminal called Thomas Schiff with half his face bathed in darkness.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Jack Beresford is a Newsweek Senior Internet Culture & Trends Reporter, based in London, UK. His focus is reporting on ... Read more
