Actor Heath Ledger says his take on the Joker in The Dark Knight, the sequel to last year’s Batman Begins, will be a departure from Jack Nicholson’s 1989 portrayal.
“… It’s obviously not going to be what Jack Nicholson did,” Ledger tells the Toronto Star. “It’s going to be more nuanced and dark and more along the lines of a Clockwork Orange kind of feel. Which is, I think, what the comic book was after: less about his laugh and more about his eyes.”
Meanwhile, Bob Hoskins tells IESB that although he hasn’t been approached about playing The Penguin, he’d love the opportunity to work with director Christopher Nolan. Philip Seymour Hoffman is among the other actors rumored for the part.
September 11th, 2006 at 9:26 am
I’m still rooting for a Harley Quinn appearance, but I guess it doesn’t fit in with the tone too well.
And while I wouldn’t mind the Penguin as part of a greater Gotham atmosphere, a lot like how Dini’s using the Riddler in his Detective run, I don’t want there to be two villains per movie. It’s just unnecessary.
September 11th, 2006 at 10:13 am
I didn’t realize the Penguin had been named for the next film… is this confirmed, or still a rumor?
…Bob Hoskins would be a very interesting Penguin…
September 11th, 2006 at 3:01 pm
I like how Heath is going to be playing the Joker, but I don’t know if his statement on the comic book version being more about the eyes and less about the laugh is accurate. Still…positive news.
September 11th, 2006 at 4:39 pm
I’m hoping ledger does this role justice and just murks it
September 11th, 2006 at 4:42 pm
even though i disagree with heath’s statement about how the joker is played in the comics… it makes me feel good he’s obviously read them to come up with an opinion…
i agree with mr. huxford… this sounds good
September 11th, 2006 at 6:01 pm
Well, given the fact that the last two live-action versions of the Joker–Cesar Romero and Jack Nicholson–pushed the laugh for all its worth, if I were Heath there’s no way in the world I’d want to try to compete with those.
As for a Harley Quinn appearance, I don’t think the “tone” plays as big a factor as just “timing”. Harley, after all, didn’t appear (as Dr Quinzel) until the Joker had been in Arkham several times. Her backstory has always presented her as a “fan” of the Joker and we’d really need a bit more time to pass (figure a 4th film at least) before Harley should make *her* appearance (Dr Quinzel could, however, make an appearance on the Arkham staff in this film to set up Harley’s debut).
September 11th, 2006 at 6:43 pm
““… It’s obviously not going to be what Jack Nicholson did,” Ledger tells the Toronto Star.”
THANK YOU.
I saw Burton’s first Batman movie a few months ago for the first time and I have to say, Nicholson hammed it up in a wrong, grating kind of way. I know a lot of people liked him, but those are mostly people who last watched the film when they were 12.
September 11th, 2006 at 8:26 pm
I wasn’t sure about him playing the Joker, being too young and all. But then he dropped the Clockwork Orange reference. Very good idea.
September 12th, 2006 at 9:54 am
He’ll do good…. I was hoping for an understated Joker anyway.
You’ll all jump down my throat when I say this, but here goes: I find the Joker to be annoying, and his only ‘cool’ factor involved the lenghths he would go to terrorize his enemies (killing Robin, Gordon’s wife, and crippling & stripping Batgirl.. yeah). Alan Moore fleshed him out excellently in “The Killing Joke”, but beyond that.. he was nothing more than a one-note psycho.
Plus Heath Ledger does well in terms of characerty roles (check out “Lords of Dogtown”.. he’s so unrecognizable in that, it’s uncanny). It’ll rock.
September 12th, 2006 at 12:01 pm
I hope they don’t show an origin. At the end of Batman Begins, he’s already around, so I hope he’s just some mysterious guy where nobody knows what the heck happened to make him what he is. The more mysterious the better, like his early appearances
September 13th, 2006 at 4:30 pm
I heard the rumour that Sean Penn was offered the role first and passed,but I do think Heath has the right tools to make this Joker really crazy and dark as if to come out of the shadows with the evil grin.This will be great for all the batman fans but please do not kill him off thats the mistake they made in the first one!
(Let the Joker rock and let Heath put his own stamp on it!)