Warning: contains spoilers for Batman '89 #1!
New comic Batman '89 proves that the iteration of Two-Face seen in 1994's Batman Forever was a terrible mistake. Played by Tommy Lee Jones, the villain was occasionally funny but heavily criticized by Batman fans; this was not the Two-Face the audiences were expecting. But Batman '89, written by Sam Hamm with art by Joe Quinones and colors by Leonardo Ito, showcases just what audiences could have seen if Burton's plans for his unmade film came to fruition.
Tim Burton's Batman was a critical and commercial success, but when the sequel Batman Returns was criticized for its dark tone, Burton was removed from the franchise - along with his plans for a third film. Though Batman Forever and the much-maligned Batman and Robin were eventually made, the entire tone of the series was drastically changed, and Billy Dee Williams' portrayal of Harvey Dent in Batman (where he has yet to transform into Two-Face) was ignored in favor of Jones. Using Burton's original plans for the untitled Batman 3 film, readers see a key difference between Tommy Lee Jones and Billy Dee Williams' portrayals of the classic villain: an actual backstory.
Batman '89 begins with Harvey Dent proposing to Barbara Gordon during a romantic dinner on Halloween night. The proposal is interrupted by criminals attempting to steal armored cars; the escapade is foiled by Batman but Dent is greatly disturbed by a vigilante operating outside the law - and the fact that Commissioner Gordon allows it. Seeking advice, Dent travels to the Burnside neighborhood of Gotham where he finds Mr. Otis, a friend from his past. The issue flashes back to a young Dent listening to Mr. Otis. "I'm gonna flip this coin, Harvey. Heads, you grow up to be a big man. Tails...you're nothing but a bum." Dent calls heads - and in the present, Mr. Otis reveals that young Harvey never even asked to look at the coin. Dent simply responds that he trusts him.
This change in Two-Face is markedly different from Joel Schumacher's Batman Forever and Tommy Lee Jones' portrayal. Harvey Dent in Batman '89 doesn't come from money or power. He's had to change his entire appearance just to fit in with the crowd, and he doesn't always appear comfortable far away from his roots. Only one issue in, Harvey Dent has the beginnings of a character arc: he wants to become something, someone, and now he needs to become someone else in order to take down what he believes is a corrupt police commissioner.
Viewers of Batman Forever will note that Tommy Lee Jones only appears as Harvey Dent in a brief flashback; his wild and outlandish Two-Face personality dominates the film at the expense of a three-dimensional character. By showing Harvey before his transformation, readers of Batman '89 see the humanity behind the villain. Billy Dee William's Harvey Dent is a character who's had to struggle to attain his goals, and that makes him one of the most human incarnations of Two-Face in the Batman canon - and a major missed opportunity for the original movies.