February
15 Eckhart set as Dent

Aaron Eckhart, who was excellent in "Thank You for Smoking," has been cast as Harvey Dent in "The Dark Knight," Christopher Nolan's sequel to "Batman Begins." He joins Heath Ledger, who will play Joker, and returning cast members Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Gary Oldman. Katie Holmes, who played love interest Rachel Dawes, has been out of the picture for a while with another actress expected to be cast in the role.

Dent was played in the 1989 Tim Burton "Batman" by Billie Dee Williams. Tommy Lee Jones took over the role of Dent — and his alter-ego Two-Face — in 1995's "Batman Forever."

The pic is set for a July 18, 2008, release. That makes the summer of 2008 a hot one for comic book movies, with "Wanted," based on the Mark Millar-J.G. Jones series from Top Cow, set for March 28, 2008; Marvel's "The Incredible Hulk" staked out for June 13, 2008; and Guillermo del Toro's "Hellboy" sequel set for Aug. 1, 2008.