WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Batman '89 #2, on sale now from DC Comics.
Batman '89 has returned readers to the world of Tim Burton's version of Gotham City, bringing in faces new and old to star in the especially Gothic take on the Caped Crusader. One element that returns from the first film is Billy Dee Williams' version of Harvey Dent, who of course never became Two-Face on screen. A recast version of the villain showed up in the third film, though this was all heavily removed from Burton's vision.
However, Batman '89 #2, by by Sam Hamm, Joe Quinones, Leonardo Ito and Clayton Cowles, lays the ground for Harvey Dent to both physically and metaphorically become Two-Face. This is done in a way similar to another theatrical incarnation of the district attorney, all while giving the character a much different portrayal. Here's a look at how the original cinematic version of Harvey Dent may end up changed forever, as well as how it's happened before in other adaptations.
The issue's story deals with the fallout of the police's failed handling of the Batman situation, resulting in massive protests against the cops in the downtrodden area of Gotham known as Burnside. Harvey Dent begins to try to mend fences with the community, having grown up there and wanting to make a difference. One of the acquaintances that he meets there is the young Drake Winston, a mechanic at the Royal Auto Shop who's also this continuity's version of Robin.
In the issue's conclusion, Dent races back toward the garage when he and his girlfriend Barbara Gordon, who is certainly not the caped crusader Batgirl, notice that it's on fire. Dent tries to find Drake, who had been living above the shop and was supposedly still there. As the inferno rages, the staircase holding Harvey collapses and he passes out when he hits the ground. Lying with the left side of his face to the ground, the unconscious Harvey is unaware that a line of battery acid begins to trickle near his face as the flames grow nearer.
This is obviously setting up how Harvey will become the evil Two-Face, and it's a sort of combination of two of his usual origins. His classic backstory had his face doused in acid, eating away and disfiguring the left side and damaging Harvey's psyche through the trauma. This was the case for the Tommy Lee Jones version seen in the 1995 film Batman Forever.
Likewise, his most famous modern origin story was in 2008's The Dark Knight, where his face is caught on fire from a building explosion. He refuses the skin grafts that could reverse his condition, instead embracing the traumatic incidence's deformities. Even here, where Dent was seemingly incredibly straight-laced beforehand, the event drives him into madness, rage and villainy.
The same will likely happen here, with a psychologically fractured Harvey perhaps blaming Drake and the citizens of Burnside for what's happened to him. This would make some sense, as it would connect Two-Face to the new Robin in a similar way to how Jason Todd was connected to him. Drake himself is a seeming amalgamation of Robins, though his being from the streets and working with cars most homage the second Robin, Jason Todd. Whether or not this actually will play a part in Two-Face's devolution remains to be seen, but it certainly seems like Harvey Dent is now scarred for life.