The Dark Knight viral web campaign is in full swing and the reveal of the full body shot of Heath Ledger as the Joker at Empire magazine has happened. What’s left. What’s the viral campaign building too.

The first assumption is a trailer. Aside from the few that attended the panel at the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con, no one has seen any footage from the film. Less that 6 months from release, that’s unbelievable for a release of this magnitude. So a trailer is a given.

What about Harvey Dent. The sites that started all of this months ago (IBelieveInHarveyDent.com and IBeliveInHarveyDentToo.com) are still there, with the content unchanged. The original WhySoSerious.com Pumpkin image decayed into a Two-Face style Jack-O-Lantern. Maybe that’s what we’re building up a too. The reveal of Two-Face. It may be in a trailer or in an image, but I feel like this build-up needs to lead to something new and unexpected. Something more than a trailer. I’d be satisfied with Two-Face.

Bad Internet. Looks like the full image of the Joker from the Empire Magazine Cover has been leaked early. Click the image for a larger version.

Early buzz seems that a lot of people don’t like the image. I personally, think it’s pretty cool. Different from any previous live version we’ve seen, which is what the character needs.

I’ll still be watching the He Is Coming site for the full image without all the cover copy in the way.

Are we soon going to see the first, full-body image of Heath Ledger as the Joker? According to Empire Online’s He Is Coming site, the answer is yes.

The one-third of the image that is revealed looks cool enough (and it’s just his socks and shoes). I will say, that if our first full view of Ledger as the Joker comes from an Empire magazine cover and not the Dark Knight Viral Web campaign, that will be a big letdown and what I think is a misfire with the marketing for the movie. Teasing the audience, only to have the surprise spoiled elsewhere, is no good.

The best stuff appeared later at TheHaHaTimes.com, a site setup by the Joker, showing his cut and paste modifications to the Gotham Times. My favorite has to be the recipe “How to Cook Vishnu the Elephant” on page two of the HaHa Times. Lots of fun tidbits in there if you take the time to look.

Be sure to check out SuperHero Hype for the other sites and a full write-up of the events that originally started at WhySoSerious.com.

Back before Halloween, I posted a link to WhySoSerious.com and wondered what would be revealed when Halloween arrived.

The Internet was abuzz when it turned out to be a location based puzzle that revealed a message. Everyone was expecting the first trailer for The Dark Knight… Instead, we got another picture of Heath Ledger as the Joker and at least two more weeks to wait.

Digging around will lead you to RorysDeathKiss and another viral campaign for others to upload photos of themselves dressed as the Joker. It’s sort of cool looking at all the photos, but the burning candle/rotting pumpkin had me excited, now I’m just interested to see what happens.

SlashFilm had a good writeup of the site and the events that followed on Oct. 31. Just read here and here.

The latest teaser for the Dark Knight (Batman 2) has appeared and it’s WhySoSerious.com. Visit the site and you see a flickering Jack-o-Lantern with a Bat Logo grin. What this all means is anyone’s guess.

WhySoSerious.com is the latest in a viral marketing campaign that started months ago to promote the film. Despite the fact that we’ve seen numerous web sites, teasers, and images; no real footage or information has been released about the film. Does the Jack-o-Lantern image mean that we’ll get to see an actual trailer on or around Halloween or does it relate to the Jeph Loeb penned Batman: The Long Halloween story, which retells Harvey Dent’s transformation into Two-Face.

More rumors are floating around that a 7-minute preview will be attached to the IMAX version of I Am Legend on Dec. 14. I hope not, because I won’t go see that film for a 7-minute preview, although many might, which is the reason it may actually happen.

Regardless, I’m eagerly awaiting whatever happens at WhySoSerious.com and in the meantime, I may have to carve a Jack-o-Lantern to match the one picture above.

Lots of photos have popped up over on The Movie Blog Community and on a Flickr Page that show Heath ledger as the Joker, as well as several shots of Batman from the Summer 2008 Batman film, The Dark Knight.

I really like the way Ledger looks and I also like the fact that the “Joker look” appears to just be make-up and not some accident. The scarring around the mouth is hard to see and I wish that were a little more prominent, but overall, everything looks great and I absolutely can’t wait to see some footage from this.

The whole I Believe in Harvey Dent campaign site was a lead-up to revealing the first official picture of Heath Ledger as the Joker. I can’t say that I’m terribly excited. It’s a little too far from the original Joker for me.

Having said that, I won’t pass judgment and I’ll still see the film. It’s too early to tell and one photo doesn’t really show or prove anything. I will say that it does look creepy, almost serial killer like, very John Wayne Gacy, Jr. I trust Christopher Nolan as a filmmaker, having like all of his previous work. This does mean that Carter and I probably won’t be seeing this one together. At least we have the Hulk and Iron Man to look forward to next year as well.

Added…SlashFilm has a great, detailed story on how the picture and site was revealed, beginning with a few Joker playing cards left in a comic book shop.

I want to believe in Harvey Dent, but Warner Bros. has messed that up in the past.

I remember the excitement in the fan/comic community when it was revealed that Billy Dee Williams was playing Harvey Dent in the 1989 Tim Burton Batman film. Most Batman fans know that the Joker disfigures district attorney Harvey Dent with acid, causing his face to be horribly scarred and turning him into the villain Two-Face. So, everyone assumed that Two-Face would be in the next Batman movie (Batman Returns) and be played by Williams.

Nope.

They didn’t use Two-Face until the third sequel, Batman Forever, and then the character was portrayed as a Joker rip-off and not the cunning, crime boss he is supposed to be. Even worse, Billy Dee Williams was nowhere to be found and was replaced by Tommy Lee Jones, who I’ll admit, looked visually like the character.

Let’s hope that the Batman Returns sequel (The Dark Knight) will end with the Joker (Heath Ledger) dousing Aaron Eckhart with acid and that the filmmakers bring him back for the third film.