Will Harvey Dent & Joker Return for Batman III?

Another day, and another set of Batman III rumors for us to dissect.

Last week, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight producer Chuck Roven spoke to the MTV Movies Blog at the People's Choice Awards.

When asked about the identity of the villain(s) for the eventual Batman III, Roven explained:

“We have to separate the actors from the role. On a personal level, Heath was a friend of mine. We had worked together before 'The Dark Knight,' but I still think that 'The Dark Knight' is its own thing, and we have to seperate them."

Do anyone really think Christopher Nolan & Co. are going to re-cast the Joker so soon after the iconic performance from the late Heath Ledger - especially when you consider a decision like that could possibly hurt his chances of winning the "Best Supporting Actor" Oscar he will, no doubt, be nominated for next week? (Note: It doesn't feel like it, but it's been about a year since Ledger's passing! Weird.)

Oh, but the rumors don't stop there, boys and girls. The Dark Knight co-star Aaron Eckhart has something to say too.

At last night's Golden Globes ceremony, the Thank You For Smoking star was corned by MTV Movies Blog (Damn, those guys sure can get around) and asked about the possbily of his Harvey "Two Face" Dent returning:

"I think Harvey - if he's not dead - is in a serious coma, and I'm not sure he's coming out. They might pull the plug on him.

Personally, I wouldn't put too much thought into those remarks. More likely than none, he was simply playing around with the interviewer. At least, that's how I read into it.

Eckhart and Nolan have both said Dent is flat out dead. Hell, it's even stated in the screenplay of The Dark Knight!

To be fair, these rumors are certainly worth-mentioning. But at the end of the day, it sounds like B.S. in order to give Batman III even more attention than it already has...