We've heard a lot about The Joker, as portrayed by Heath Ledger, in The Dark Knight.

But Director Christopher Nolan claims that the movie actually belongs to District Attorney Harvey Dent (played by Aaron Eckhart, pictured).

In a conversation The Los Angeles Times, Nolan talked about Dent's role in the flick: "Harvey Dent is a tragic figure, and his story is the backbone of this film."

The smooth and politically ambitious Dent is destined to become the scarred supervillain Two-Face. Rumors state that Two-Face will be the main villain in the next Batman movie.

"The Joker, he sort of cuts through (The Dark Knight)," Nolan said. "He's got no story arc, he's just a force of nature tearing through. Heath has given an amazing performance in the role, it's really extraordinary."

Heath Ledger isn't the only new face of the Batman franchise.

Maggie Gyllenhaal has replaced Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes in The Dark Knight. The actress talked briefly to Metro.co.uk about the role:

Is your Batman character a damsel in distress?
There are moments of that. Chris Nolan, the director, would joke about how I had to resign myself to being a little bit of a damsel in distress but he pushed me in other ways to make her a powerful character. I play a lawyer and have real relationships with the people I'm interacting with in the movie. She's very smart and a real rounded person.

Of course, if you're the girl in Batman, you're going to be a damsel in distress to some extent but she's a really great character. So many people I play are a mess; Rachel's really clear about what's important to her and unwilling to compromise her morals, which made a nice change.

Brace yourself, fans.

We've got the latest, incredible trailer below for The Dark Knight:

Forget The Joker or even Batman himself for a moment.

Check out this picture from The Dark Knight, as the Caped Crusader rides to the scene of a crime aboard his Batpod. We gotta get one of those...

IGN recently sat down with Christopher Nolan, director of The Dark Knight. Here are a couple highlights from the interiew:

IGN: In all the many fan casting wish lists that made the rounds online, Ledger's name never came up. How and when did you think to cast him?
Nolan: To be honest, I don't exactly remember when it came to pass. I'd met with Heath several times on projects in the past and nothing had ever come of it. And I think he'd heard I was looking for someone to play the Joker before we had a script, and I'd heard that he was really actually into the idea.

Christopher Nolan shoot The Dark Knight.

And we met and we got each other. We both had exactly the same concept in our heads of who that guy would be in this film in the way that we'd interpreted it. It wasn't specific to, "Oh, he's going to look like this or talk like that" at all. It was about a psychological concept.

It was about a character concept. It was about the threat of anarchy. It was about anarchy being the most frightening thing there is. Chaos and anarchy in this day and age, and I think it is. It's certainly the thing I'm most afraid of.

IGN: Are you concerned at all about the Justice League of America movie and of a new Batman being introduced to audiences while your franchise is still going?
Nolan: Not really. To be perfectly honest, it's not really something I've thought about much. I really am just immersed in making this movie. Whatever will happen will happen, and we're just working very hard to make this movie the best it can be.

Read the full interview now.

Here's the latest poster for The Dark Knight.

It's pretty darn cool:

The Dark Knight Director Christopher Nolan talked to MTV News about "adventurous" character of The Joker as he helped unveil an extended trailer this week.

If the opening frames of the movie are any indication, Batman will have his hands full come June. The Joker is on the loose, and MTV has seen just how devilishly maniacal and dangerous he can be.

On Sunday night, a small crowd in New York gathered to watch the first six minutes of Nolan's eagerly awaited sequel to Batman Begins and the footage did not disappoint. Introduced by the beaming director and displayed on an 80-foot-tall IMAX screen, the opening of the film welcomed Heath Ledger's Joker to the Nolan/Batman universe.

And it was clear from the start, much as you might have loved Jack Nicholson's villain, the purple-clad bad man won't have the time or inclination to dance to Prince this time around. Nolan spoke at length with MTV News immediately prior to and following the special event, clearly proud of his new villain.

"I think what Heath is doing is very adventurous," he said. "What he's doing is very radical. It's very much what I wanted. I knew I needed someone really fearless."

Red the full article about The Dark Knight opening now.

It's The Joker!

It's Batman!

It's a pair of promotional photos from the summer's most anticipated movie, The Dark Knight. Check them out now:

Heath Ledger stars as The Joker.

Christian Bale returns as Batman.

As previously reported, Heath Ledger appears in the latest issue of Empire Magazine as The Joker.

Here are a couple excerpts from the interview the actor gave in that issue:

On a great deal of trepidation when approached for the part of The Joker: "I definitely feared it. Anything that makes me afraid I guess excites me at the same time. I don't know if I was fearless, but I certainly had to put on a brave face and believe that I have something up my sleeve. Something different."

On how he prepared the Joker's sinister voice and laugh: "I sat around in a hotel room in London for about a month, locked myself away, formed a little diary and experimented with voices â€" it was important to try to find a somewhat iconic voice and laugh. I ended up landing more in the realm of a psychopath â€" someone with very little to no conscience towards his acts.

He's just an absolute sociopath, a cold-blooded, mass-murdering clown, and Chris [Nolan] has given me free rein. Which is fun because there are no real boundaries to what The Joker would say or do. Nothing intimidates him, and everything is a big joke."

Here's the latest photo of Heath Ledger as The Joker from The Dark Knight, this one courtesy of Empire Magazine.