Fincher talks about Lisbeth as the hype cranks up

In Empire magazine, which boasts on its cover to be "the only magazine on set!," director David Fincher continues the spin on how his film will depict the character of Lisbeth Salander in December's release of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. He assures fans of the Stieg Larsson books and the trilogy of Swedish films already out that Salander will be no superhero: "She’s been compromised. She’s been subjugated. She’s been marginalized. She’s been swept into the gutter and she’s had a part in it. She dresses like trash because she’s someone who has been betrayed and hurt so badly, by forces beyond her control, that she’s just decided to be refuse." But will she be the strong character in the film, or will she have to be saved/protected/dominated by Daniel Craig since he's, you know, a movie star?

Anne Thompson observes at IndieWire that the Empire cover, like the English-language marketing for Fincher's film — but unlike the Swedish marketing — puts Salander in a subservient position to Craig's character. That could be an unsatisfying reversal of roles that leaves fans cold if carried through in the film, but also wouldn't be surprising in an Americanized (and Sony sanctioned) version of the story. Thompson compares the Swedish approach, with Salander as a standoffish free agent, to the international poster, which makes Salander out to be a hot if rough-edged babe nestled in her man's arms, albeit with a pierced nipple. That poster is after the jump.