Ricky Church chats with Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham star Patrick Fabian…
DC’s most recent animated film Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham, adapted from Hellboy creator Mike Mignola’s graphic novel of the same name, is an Elseworlds tale that sees Bruce Wayne return to Gotham City in the 1920s as he investigates an ancient and deadly cult that has come to Gotham City to unleash terrible Lovecraftian horrors on the city. To stop them he’ll need the help of his allies and friends and find a way to defeat this mystical force.
We spoke with Better Call Saul actor Patrick Fabian who plays Harvey Dent in the animated film. In this take on the character, Harvey is an old childhood friend of Bruce Wayne’s and is running for Gotham’s mayoral position, but the cult has a different plan for him. We spoke to Fabian about Harvey’s friendship with Bruce, Two-Face’s popularity, the appeal of the Elseworlds brand and what Better Call Saul means to him after having wrapped up last year. Check out our interview below…
Ricky Church: In Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham, you play Harvey Dent, who is one of the most well known and popular Batman villains. In this movie, it’s a fairly different version of Harvey that you play so what was it like for you to play such a different take on Two-Face?
Patrick Fabian: What I like about The Doom That Came to Gotham is because it’s an Elseworld tale and we’re set in a different time it allows characters that you’re familiar with to be slightly different. In this case, we really see mostly one side of Harvey Dent, which is I think a good side, a side where he’s not doing anything other than being optimistic and trying to help the city out. That’s sort of new for people to see in that respect. He’s sincerely wanting to do good things, trying to help, and then when he gets a bad case of poison ivy, as they say, that’s not his fault. He wasn’t looking for that. It wasn’t like he was hanging out in some place or doing something nefarious. It happened to him as opposed to him seeking it out. And so I think that makes it kind of tragic.
As you just mentioned, Doom That Came to Gotham is an Elseworld tale, so it’s very different from typical Batman stories by taking place in the 1920s and so heavily involved in ancient demonic cults. How appealing was the setting and story for you? Did you feel like that opened up a bit more in your performance?
Oh, absolutely. What I like about if, first of all, the period piece in the twenties, it’s just before crash, people wearing suits and they got flapper dresses on, but technology is still not as advanced clearly as it is today. Consequently there’s a sense of darkness and spiritualism and all those sort of things that very much have a grip on the nation and the world. Lovecraft is perfect for that period, right? The notion of what lies underneath, and in this case literally what lies underneath Gotham. I think there’s a little visceral feel that everybody has for every person walking around. What’s really going on, what’s underneath and the dark underbelly is always fascinating. And who doesn’t wanna play in that?
You alluded to it yourself that Harvey’s good side is shown more than his Two-Face side and in this he’s also an old childhood friend of Bruce’s. How do you think those aspects add to the tragedy of Harvey’s character?
Well, I love the fact that him, Oliver and Bruce are, are having drinks together. Isn’t that great? That’s a really fun scene. Also hats off to the DC animators for making Harvey look like he definitely knows how to go to the gym. Everyone’s looking very buffed and good in this and I like that. To see it like that, to your point, it does make it more tragic because there he is hanging out with Bruce. They know one another. Things are good. They’re helping prop up their drunk friend Oliver, right? They’re in this together. Harvey’s going to help look up some stuff for Bruce and then he’s running for mayor. He is going to clean up the city. Things are good. He’s a good guy until things go awry. Even at the end, by the way, when he’s there as Batman is heading into the tunnel, he says “good luck” and one can argue that the good luck can cut both ways. It can cut ironically, like “Good luck. You’re never getting out of there” or the better part of Harvey is still there and is saying “Good luck. Go get rid of this thing.”
For sure. Batman, as you know, he’s such an old character. He’s been around for over 80 years now and remains hugely popular. What do you think the appeal of Batman is? Why is his popularity still is so large?
I’ll start by saying, I don’t think many, many people think they can be Superman because Superman seems outside of ourselves. Superman seems to be somebody else. Batman seems like my neighbour down the street. Batman is close in secrecy. Batman can be me if I just had the right cowl, you know what I mean? It feels like I can jump through the city like that. It feels like I could use the inventions he’s got. I just need to practice. Ultimately, I think this goes back to the idea that everyone likes to pretend that they have a darkness in them and that they’re hurt, wounded and brooding. And by the way they may, and Batman exemplifies that. So I think there’s an identifier that keeps happening and as kids keep growing up, they’re going to go through that period when they’re teenagers or they go through tough times and they feel like Batman. It’s dark. You need Superman! We know that, but I think we all feel like we are Batman.
Yeah, for sure. On the flip side of that, Two-Face has been a beloved and fan-favourite villain for a number of years. A lot of my friends say he’s their favourite villain instead of someone like The Joker. Why do you think Harvey Dent/Two-Face has been such a popular character in movies like Doom That Came to Gotham or The Dark Knight and other things? Did you feel intimidated playing such a big and beloved character?
I didn’t feel intimidated only because I was in the good hands of Wes Gleason and Sam Lui and those guys know exactly what they’re doing. I worked with them on the Reign of the Supermen and The Death of Superman, that was my first exposure with them. I knew they weren’t going to let me fail, you know what I mean? They were going to help me get the best performance they could out of me. But to your point, I think Two-Face is fun. Harvey Dent is fun. Harvey Dent also is somebody the people identify with because they also feel on any given day they’re happy or sad or they’re doing the right thing or they’re doing the wrong thing. I think Harvey Dent also gives them license to behave like that. It’s almost a sense of like, “Well, Harvey can’t help it and neither can I.” So I think people identify with that much more than they do for somebody like The Joker or the Penguin.
Do you have a favourite Batman villain in particular or is Two-Face your favourite?
Well, Two-Faced is and I was always trying to say to Sam and Wes if they want to make a Two-Face movie I’m all ears, you know what I’m saying?
You’d make a great live-action Two-Face too. You’ve got the look for it. Not saying your left side is, you know, ugly and stuff!
(Laughs) I know what you’re saying, I know what you’re saying!
Harvey Dent, he is a lawyer and of course you just came off playing a lawyer, Howard Hamlin in Better Call Saul. I’d be remiss not mentioning that a little bit, which ended last year. Howard Hamlin played an incredibly huge part in that series, particularly in its final tragic episodes. Looking back, what does Better Call Saul and Howard mean to you?
Well, you know, what a great, great, great time of my life. I made a great second family with everybody there. I got to work with some of the best artists in front of and behind the camera in my career. I can’t thank those writers and directors enough, can’t thank the wardrobe people for putting me into those beautiful suits, as you mentioned. And what an exit to leave the series on. They gave me such an iconic way to go and I thought we ended the series really well. I thought, I’m really proud of the six years that we put together. I thought we played a really tight, good television show that told a really great story that was ultimately very tragic, but maybe a little hopeful at the end. So I was thrilled to be a part of it. I’ve been a working actor all my life you dream of getting a dream job and I was lucky enough to get one.
Thank you to Patrick Fabian for speaking with us!
SEE ALSO: Read our review of Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham here
Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham is available to own now.
Ricky Church – Follow me on Twitter for more movie news and nerd talk.
