DC and Warner Brothers put together an unannounced, surprise panel discussion on The Dark Knight, Warner's sequel to the hit Batman Begins, due out in July 2008. Shooting for the highly-anticipated sequel is currently taking place in Chicago, a fact that Paul Levitz was quick to remind the audience of during the DC Nation panel yesterday.

It was an effective tease that some of the key talent involved with The Dark Knight might actually make an appearance at Wizard World Chicago. Sure enough, we weren't disappointed.

After waiting in an overcrowded, under-airconditioned ballroom for about a half hour, Paul Levitz introduced, in order: Screenwriters David Goyer and Jonan Nolan, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Christian Bale, and Christopher Nolan. Oldman received the first standing ovation of the evening and Bale received the loudest ovation of the entering talents and seemed genuinely embarassed at the adulation.

Goyer, who of course has also dipped into comics writing, said it was gratifying for him to be at the WW Chicago panel because he remembers going to comic book conventions as a youngster. Jonah Nolan grew up as a Batman fan and, being a native of Chicago, has been lobbying for more shooting to take place in his hometown.

Bale thanks the audience for what he termed an "insane" welcome. He went on to say, "It's an honor for me to reprise this most badass of roles." Bale related that he wasn't really a big fan of Batman growing up, and mostly knew the character only through the campy Adam West television show. Then, Bale read Frank Miller's Batman: Year One and thought, "Why the hell hasn't anyone made that kind of Batman? To me, there's only one way to play [the character]."

Fans were invited to begin asking questions, most of which didn't garner any notable responses. But Nolan and Goyer said audiences would see more of the detective/criminologist aspect of Batman's character in the second movie. Batman Begins was, of course, an origin movie and Nolan felt he couldn't devote much screen time to that aspect of the character. That will be addressed in the sequel.

When asked about the interest any of the major players had in doing a World's Finest movie, Goyer said he had "zero" interest on a scale of 1 to 10. Jonah Nolan said while he really enjoyed the Batman-Superman fight in Dark Knight Returns, he doesn't see much possibility of a movie starring the two characters. Christopher Nolan said he's "creatively burned out and couldn't care less." Bale hemmed and hawed a bit, and ultimately failed to answer.

At this point in the panel, in spite of DC's numerous warnings against bringing electronic devices into the panel, a cell phone rang in the audience.

The final question from the audience was from a fan of the Batman animated series, who said Mark Hammil was her perfect Joker, a sentiment shared by some in the audience. She asked whether Nolan and Heath Ledger, who plays the Joker in the upcoming film, took anything from Hammil's performances and incorporated it into their movie. Diplomatically, Nolan responded by lauding Ledger's work, saying "I think what Heath is doing is quite brilliant." Oldman jumped in here, sticking up for his co-star, and said "Heath is going to knock everyone out of the ball park," a statement that had all on the dais nodding in agreement.

After this exchange, a new trailer of The Dark Knight was shown. Nolan explained that the actors hadn't seen this clip themselves, and as if in response, Bale asked if he and his castmates could join the audience to view the trailer on the two big screens set up by the convention staff.

The clip was a lot of jump cuts between action shots and simply looked amazing. Numerous shots of the Joker was shown. It appears the painted-on smile will be the norm for the Joker's appearance. (Sorry, Drew.) Final exchange of the trailer:

Carmine Falcone: "Dent. I thought you were dead."

[Back of Harvey Dent's head]: "Half."

A rousing standing ovation ensued. The trailer most definitely didn't disappoint. The crowd began chanting, "ONE MORE TIME! ONE MORE TIME!" Unfortunately, Paul Levitz said Nolan wouldn't allow another viewing, at which point, the crowd quickly turned on Nolan and booed him. Ultimately, however, the team from The Dark Knight left triumphantly to heavy applause.

DC gave audience members black t-shirts with The Dark Knight logo emblazoned on it that, when illuminated by a black light, says "Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!"