The Dark Knight How much did Ledgers death change the ending of DK?

[milost]

If Ledger was alive, the Joker would be in the third one if the contract rumor that he was obligated for it is true. If he did the pay or play deal, then it might have to take some convincing from Nolan or Ledger digging the character enough to return. Including the Joker would have most likely given the character a decent chunk of story and not just the same, lame Crane cameos. Especially if the character had the same impact without Ledger's death and he were still around to talk about it.

Joker partaking in the third would change eveything. You might not even have Bane or LoS 2.0 anymore. Goyer doesn't go and suggest/convince Bane to Nolan. Johnathan might not be adamant about Catwoman. It might not even be "TDKR". The dynamics of the project change dramatically when you insert a Joker into the deck. I think it's kind of stupid to assume "oh, he'd be a bit part", or "oh he's kill Bane", or "he would have been the judge", when those might not have even happened had he been around. The story as everyone knows it would be completely different, possibly better than any one of us could ever imagine.

Sorta crazy how it goes from full on Joker HYPE, Why So Serious and "you and I are destined to do this forever" to absolutely no mention whatsoever. Sort of sucks. I'm glad I relished every minute 2007 and 2008 had to offer. I remember those "leaked" cop and nurse photos and just having the biggest **** eating grin on my face. Who knows what great scenes and antics might have played out in an alternate "Batman 3" if Ledger had lived. Would Ledger have even liked being associated with being that Joker phenomenon or would it have bugged him? We'll never know.


There's also the deal of contracts. Aaron Eckhart said in an interview that he thought Ledger was contracted for two Batman films while he himself was not (obviosly because Two-Face died). But that seems like a hunch on Eckhart's part because other sources state Ledger had a pay or play clause in his contract (like Nicholson had, like Keaton had, like Johnny Depp had for Jack Sparrow, etc.) where he had the liberty to do whatever the hell he wanted and could drop out at any time. A pretty smart deal. Judging by interviews with him, he didn't seem to really like the idea of being in big blockbusters so he might have had some serious issues with either the success of his performance and if it felt like it defined him (which it has). It's interesting to think about. Who knows what post-Dark Knight release interviews might entail for Ledger. He died right before the film's marketing campaign where they have actors go out and "sell" the film so we'll never know. Would he have come back? Was he contracted? Would he have dug it? Who knows.

If he was alive though, it wouldn't have been the "TDKR" we know it as.

 

[shauner111]

Well, i believe that things happen for a reason. Im not a religious person but im a spiritual dude. He was meant to die early, in my opinion, so there's no use in thinking of "what could have been". TDKR was our destiny whether people liked it or not. With that said, he definitely would have returned. There's no two ways about it. But i don't think he would have had a lot of scenes with Batman. Maybe none. He would have been in a padded cell. Not a main villain role.

There's no other story that Nolan wanted to tell other than one that was a conclusion + a villain that was polar opposite of Joker. So we either would have had Bane or Nolan would have passed the franchise over to another. And i dont think Ledger would have returned if it wasn't Nolan. But who knows, maybe he had to, like Bale. Which leads me to believe that Nolan would have came back in order to not bail on Ledger or Bale. Which brings me right back to the conclusion + Bane/Catwoman + Joker in a supporting role.

 

[The Joker]

Well, i believe that things happen for a reason. Im not a religious person but im a spiritual dude. He was meant to die early, in my opinion

Do yourself a favor, don't ever be around someone if they lose a child.

 

[shauner111]

Oooooooooook..

 

[Roderick]

If only we could have seen an adaptation of Harley Quinn, perhaps we could of if Ledger didn't pass.

 

[The Endless]

If Ledger was alive he'd definitely be involved. He'd probably take Scarecrow's place in the Kangeroo Court. That to me was clearly intended for the Joker. And it would have been much better.

 

[Senator Pleasury]

If only we could have seen an adaptation of Harley Quinn, perhaps we could of if Ledger didn't pass.

I really really doubt Nolan would have used Harley Quinn.

 

[shauner111]

There was no chance of Nolan using Harley Quinn.

 

[The Joker]

If Ledger was alive he'd definitely be involved. He'd probably take Scarecrow's place in the Kangeroo Court.

I doubt he'd have been used for the kangaroo court. Joker wouldn't care to play Judge for the LOS.

 

[Mandon Knight]

The story for TDKR wasn't planned out until after Ledger's death. Had he been alive, I absolutely believe The Joker would have been a part of it, albeit in a smaller role than TDK.

The TDKR script was a complete re-think and new challenge, the original concept was TDK was to be a two-part story and Two Face transformation as into the third film and the downfall that appeared in TDK was a longer, drawn out story.

Bane and all that happened in TDKR was thought of and written after they knew that Joker re-cast would not be an option in respect of Heath and the idea of bringing everything full circle with LOS was formed.

 

[Doctor Octopus]

Bane and all that happened in TDKR was thought of and written after they knew that Joker re-cast would not be an option in respect of Heath and the idea of bringing everything full circle with LOS was formed.

Yes I heard they started considering Bane as the villain while they were doing Inception, which is where they got the idea for Tom Hardy to play him.