It sounds like the reminder he got may have been a bit harsh. When asked recently about the possibility of returning, Eckhart said, "No, I'm not coming back. I think unfortunately, Heath [Ledger] was supposed to go on and that didn't work out. I'm nobody. I'm a cog. I have no say over this sort of stuff." He did go on and save a bit of face, however, in addition to grinding a few more wheels in the casting rumor mill: "I'm sure that there's so many other characters that they could whip together. I heard Angelina Jolie was going to be Catwoman or something like that. I thought that was a great idea. I'd like to be in that one." Poor guy. I don't think the "you're really and truly dead" thing stuck for very long. The Jolie as Catwoman thing is intriguing, though, and while I'd like to think Eckhart has some seriously excellent sources in the land of Gotham, it took him this long to find out that he wouldn't be in any future movies, despite having a pretty serious death scene. Oh well. At least he's pretty.