The Dark Knight publicity train has been rolling merrily along, thanks to the brilliant strategy of switching focus to Harvey Dent and giving us all time to let the Heath Ledger heartbreak subside. Not sure if this had been planned before Ledger’s death, but it’s worked brilliantly. Just as Joker-centric ads were wearing thin, or becoming too sad to look at, in comes Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent, looking as clean-cut and respectable as you would want any District Attorney.

Now Gotham’s assistant DA Rachel Dawes is stepping in, denouncing the “certain individuals” who have tried to smear Dent’s reputation. What exactly are these individuals saying? Dawes isn’t saying. She stands by her man, though, proclaiming that Dent believes in two things: “Justice, and Gotham City. That’s why I believe in Harvey Dent.”

Of course, you may also know Rachel Dawes as Maggie Gyllenhaal, who is taking over the role from Katie Holmes, who kind of redefined “wooden” with the character in 2005’s Batman Begins. In this video Gyllenhaal seems a bit too twitchy and, uh, young to be playing an assistant AD, but she’s definitely an improvement over the utterly blank Holmes. It’ll be great if Gyllenhaal can follow up on Rachel’s promise as an active participant in the Batman story, rather than being one more damsel in distress. Based on the way she handles the podium at this press conference, she’s off to a good start.