I'm quite shocked by this.  :o

Ledger is a WAY out of left field choice for The Joker.

This is from batman-on-film.com

"I usually don't go out on a limb unless I have had something confirmed, and it has been. Heath Ledger will be The Joker. From my BEST source:

"Nolan has been in secret talks with Ledger for some time....The fan favorites like Paul Bettany, Crispin Glover and your fave pick, Lachy Hulme, were just grist for the mill. Ledger will be playing The Joker. The offer was made last night, and it will be a done deal.

There you have it. Heath Ledger is The Joker. "

More sources:

http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/719/719898p1.html
http://www.latinoreview.com/news.php?id=736

Hmmm...an atypical choice, but he has proven he can be a good actor.

:\'( He probably will not make a good joker

I'm tempted to say that too HunkyDory but 2 years from now when the movie hits I could eat those words.  Ledger is a top-notch actor, he just seems out of place for such a role.  Face it, the guy has zero intimidation factor going on.  Might as well cast Johnny Depp(whos a good actor, but I don't think he'd make an intimidating villain).

[quote author=

I found this photo manip of Ledger as The Joker...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/illmatikk/heathLEDGER-JOKER2.jpg

He's a good actor, yes. I just.. can't see him as The Joker. Eh, I'll have to wait and see, I guess.

[quote author=

^ I think the second one is better.  The first one makes him look like a poor man's "Crow".

I'd like to go out to Hollywood and personally shoot all the casting directors, and then bring in a new shipment of ones that don't have a "Age" thing going on. 

Is it just me or do only people in there mid 20's get casted anymore?  Way to young, he's way to young to be playing this part. 

he's way to young to be playing this part. 


He's only 26, which isn't all that young, when you consider that Christopher Reeve was only 25 when played Superman in 1978

He's only 26, which isn't all that young, when you consider that Christopher Reeve was only 25 when played Superman in 1978


I was comparing him to Jack Nicholson.  Which I shouldn't do I guess.  I'll watch him see how he does. 

I'd like to go out to Hollywood and personally shoot all the casting directors, and then bring in a new shipment of ones that don't have a "Age" thing going on. 

Is it just me or do only people in there mid 20's get casted anymore?  Way to young, he's way to young to be playing this part. 


The Joker in the comic books was a small time crook who fell into a vat of acid...which led him to become the insane Joker we all know and love.  They never gave an age for this villain, but being the ultimate Batman villain, he'd probably be around the same age as Batman himself...late-20s to mid-30s.  Heath Ledger would sort of work.  I'd have preferred Crispin Glover though, that guy's a freak.

The Joker in the comic books was a small time crook who fell into a vat of acid...which led him to become the insane Joker we all know and love.  They never gave an age for this villain, but being the ultimate Batman villain, he'd probably be around the same age as Batman himself...late-20s to mid-30s.  Heath Ledger would sort of work.  I'd have preferred Crispin Glover though, that guy's a freak.


Actually he was a failing stand-up comic who had quit his job at a chemical plant and was trying to support his pregnant wife.  He agreed to assist the mob in robbing his former place of work, disguised as "the Red Hood", a faux persona numerous criminals in Gotham had adopted to hide their identity. The day of the robbery when he met the mobsters at a bar as planned, a police detective came and informed him his wife died in an accident at home.  He was distraught but the criminals pressured him into going through with it anyway.  The robbery goes awry, then Batman showed up and frightened the guy so bad he jumped into the chemicals on purpose to get away from Batman.  After he swimed to the shore outside the plant, he saw his reflection in the water and that he'd been deformed, and went insane.

I'm a nerd, I can't help it. :P

I
^ I think the second one is better.  The first one makes him look like a poor man's "Crow".


Actually I like the first one more.  The hair shouldn't be long, but besides that its not bad at all.  The general consensus among the fans has been that The Joker should look realistic.  Hes nots supposed to look like a clown with make-up on, his skin was altered in an accident.  It should be a more naturalistic pale white.  Not like an albino, whiter than that, but it shouldn't be sheet-white. Really the tone of his skin in that manip I posted is just perfect. As are the lips(less of a pure red, they look enflamed or something which makes sense because he was scarred by chemicals) and hair(I like the darker green). The eyebrows are little too exaggerated, and the eyes a bit too bright green, but other than that the colors are perfect.  Just shorten the hair and slick it back, and you've got a perfect Joker. From looking at this pic of Ledger, I tend to think he won't even need any prostetics for his chin or anything.  He already has the right facial structure for The Joker, he just needs the make-up.

The Joker in the comic books was a small time crook who fell into a vat of acid...which led him to become the insane Joker we all know and love.  They never gave an age for this villain, but being the ultimate Batman villain, he'd probably be around the same age as Batman himself...late-20s to mid-30s.  Heath Ledger would sort of work.  I'd have preferred Crispin Glover though, that guy's a freak.


Definitely agreed. Crispin Glover would be awesome.

Crispin Glover would be good, I think that Robin Williams would be an even better choice.

I was hoping Bruce Campbell would get the gig...

UPDATE: Theres now been an official press release from WB announcing that the name of the film is THE DARK KNIGHT. 8)

[quote author=

Like, "Batman: The Dark Knight" or just "The Dark Knight"?


Just "The Dark Knight".  No Batman in the title for once, and I think thats actually pretty cool.



Should be interesting to see how they do the Joker this time around.  Hopefully they don't kill him.


Yeah, killing him off was a mistake that hopefully doesn't happen again.

Web sites up: http://www.thedarkknightmovie.com/

Not really anything on it yet, though.

Okay supposedly this bloke got ahold of the script treatment and according to him(SPOILER warning):





































































































-After a massive house-cleaning of Gotham City's bureaucracy after the disaster with Ra's Al Ghul, a new District Attorney has come into town, as described as an "Elliot Ness-esque" type, with the intention of filling in the city's bureaucratical seats with worthy, clean "go-getters". Of course, this is HARVEY DENT.
-Batman teams up with Gordon and new D.A. Harvey Dent to go after The Joker who is on a murder spree.
-The Joker does have an origin which is at the beginning of the film before the rest of the story, in it hes a gangster but no name is given and he is set-up by Falcone, and the hitman who is sent to kill him desposes of his "body" into the chemicals, thinking hes dead. But obviously The Joker ISN'T and he gets P#$%&D at Falcone and starts knocking off his men in more and more insane ways, ala the "Joker's Five Way Revenge" story arc.
-There is no Sal Maroni or Roman Sionis.
-The Penguin is in it(and it was previously rumored hes a British armsdealer, and this rumor did not contradict that) and he strikes a sort of deal with Joker (NOT a partnership, more like something akin to Ra's/Scarecrow..mutually beneficial) to help eliminate the mobsters and get control of the city. Joker screws Penguin over big time.
-Harvey Bullock is in it.
-Remember the Bat-Cycle rumours from before? Well, this guy said Joker badly damages the Tumbler (and by that I mean, REALLY badly. He burns an enormous hole in it with acid) which may be why Bats needs alternative transport. Their second battle serves as the film's climax but no details given other than it involved the previous rumoured tennement in the Narrows.
-Katie Holmes' character is ABSENT from the treatment.
-Cilliam Murphy returns as Scarecrow, but apparently in a cameo-like part. Where? rebuilt Arkham Asylum, or as Troy says the script describe it, "The House that Batman built".
-hard-boiled copper Jim Gordon(Oldman) rises through the police ranks.
-Crime still plays a massive role in the storyline.
-Alfred will have a "bigger" role, meaning he'll be overseeing the re-construction of Wayne Manor, which is completed near the end of the film.



Note: "Troy" was the scooper

I find it interesting Wayne Manor won't be rebuilt until near the end of the film. For quite awhile in the 1970s, Batman was moved from Wayne Manor out into the country and into a penthouse in the city(this was during the Neal Adams/Denny O'Neil era, whom wrote the story I mentioned above, "Joker's Five Way Revenge"). I think it would be really cool to see that in TDK while Wayne Manor is being rebuilt.