The Dark Knight In Heath We Trust: A Ledgerbration: The TDK Joker Appreciation Thread - Part 1

[shauner111]

Neeson was solid too..

 

[Boom]

Nine years.

 

[BaelaTargaryen]

 

[The Joker]

I'd love to read that Joker diary he kept. It looks so fascinating.

This vid is awesome. Explains why Joker is the perfect antagonist for TDK.

[YT]pFUKeD3FJm8[/YT]

 

[Broseph44]

I'd love to read that Joker diary he kept. It looks so fascinating.

This vid is awesome. Explains why Joker is the perfect antagonist for TDK.

[YT]pFUKeD3FJm8[/YT]

This is indeed awesome

Man, he was the best Joker without question.

 

[the5timechamp]

"you and I are destined to do this forever".....
that damn line..hurts every time i hear it.. it underlines that Ledger as Joker was a story that was left incomplete...

 

[shauner111]

Not necessarily. It's all about perspective. From Jokers perspective, in that moment he feels they may be destined to do this forever. Batman however responds with, you'll be in a padded cell forever. At that point both could come true. At the end Batman doesn't let Joker win. So it's possible the character would have been in a cell in the next story, and that's that.

Also in that world maybe Joker and Batman do their dance for decades. We just don't know. Joker doesn't care who Batman is. As long as there's a batman to play with. So as Batman goes through each generation. From Bruce to Robin to X to Y to Z...could there also be a Joker to battle him? It's a possibility.

That line however is a nice nod to their history and future in the comics and all mediums. But as I've said in the past, that scene is all about what the Joker believes will happen once Gotham learns about Harvey's crimes. He thinks everyone will lose their minds, and the crazies will start to double up. But Batman stops that from happening. He chokes out that dream by lying, taking the blame for the murders himself.

 

[Ryan]

"you and I are destined to do this forever".....
that damn line..hurts every time i hear it.. it underlines that Ledger as Joker was a story that was left incomplete...

Just rewatched the film the other day....I felt the same way.

 

[Brother Jack]

It was incomplete by design. The Joker seems to materialize on the street corner at the beginning of the film and then is left literally hanging, exiting mid laugh as abruptly as he entered. Like a demon that appears and disappears. So I think it works to leave it as it is. Eight years on the people of Gotham would likely see him as akin to some bad dream. Their hatred and fear targeted mainly at Batman. But just as we know that Batman always has to come back, we instinctively know Joker will eventually resurface from wherever he's hiding and the game will start anew. It's just his nature.

 

[Reel-Man]

He really was the best Joker to date for me. It's a real shame that we will never get to see what was hinted at. Does anyone know what the original plan was for TDK and it's sequel? Was it supposed to be Two-Face the main villain, with Joker being the main bad guy in the third one, or the opposite? I remember reading something back in the day about Nolan putting everything into TDK rather than split that story for the 3d movie. Might be having faulty memory though.

PS: Where would the appropriate place for me to share some designs i created based on Heath's Joker and some other Batman designs that my shop partner designed? It's from our Redbubble shop so i don't want to spam the forum by being in the wrong section. Sorry for the off topic post.

 

[shauner111]

The original loose plan was to extend Harvey's story into the third where he would become Two Face in the opening scene, during Jokers trial. They decided not to go in that direction. Thank god. What a disaster would that have been if they left too many loose Joker threads and then Heath dies before they can film it?

There was no plans at all for Joker in a third movie. Of course they would have written at least one more scene with him once they started working on a third. But there's no guarantee that Nolan would have returned for a TDK sequel unless Joker fit into his "conclusion" storyline for Bruce Wayne. Nolan didn't want to do another sequel, next adventure for Batman. So I imagine Chris would have produced the next film (like his role for Man Of Steel). A new director would have used Heath, Christian etc the way he saw fit. And the story would have kept going until someone new decided to end it their way OR until the franchise ran itself into the ground once again.

The other option would have been TDKR by Nolan, just with Heath in a glorified cameo role. At least a couple of scenes, stuck in Arkham. Joker would not have had makeup on his face, that's just common sense to me. And quite frankly I think too much of that takes away the mystery surrounding his Joker. I wish Heath the man and actor was still alive and I'd be curious to see what he would bring to a sequel, but there's something bittersweet about the way Joker's story ended in TDK. I appreciate it in a weird way because it adds to the creepiness of Mr. J. I'm also satisfied with the explanation given in the official TDKR novelization.

So to sum it up, I really don't believe his role would have been big in the sequel unless a new director was on board. And I don't see TDK's ending as a setup. It's simply the thoughts of a madman before he loses to Batman and Commissioner Gordon.

 

[NotNickFury]

He really was the best Joker to date for me. It's a real shame that we will never get to see what was hinted at. Does anyone know what the original plan was for TDK and it's sequel? Was it supposed to be Two-Face the main villain, with Joker being the main bad guy in the third one, or the opposite? I remember reading something back in the day about Nolan putting everything into TDK rather than split that story for the 3d movie. Might be having faulty memory though.

I vaguely remember talk of Joker probably being the judge in the trials instead of Crane.

 

[shauner111]

Bane would never go for that. I love the explanation in the TDKR novelization that Joker was kept in Arkham as the sole inmate, when they transferred all patients over to the new Blackgate Prison.

Crane fit that role as judge much better. Especially since the first time we see Crane in the trilogy, he's in a courtroom.

 

[Brother Jack]

I never thought that Bane would've allowed Joker to play any role of significance. He would have killed him before letting him jeopardize his plan, which he certainly would have. Too much of a liability. Too put Joker in Rises, you'd have to rework it quite a bit. As it exists, there isn't room for him. At least not for him to appear in the flesh.

 

[BaelaTargaryen]

Spike TV Announces Wide-Ranging Heath Ledger Documentary for May Broadcast

 

[Ryan]

I think its hard to comment either way on a joker appearance in TDKR. As far as I understand, there wasn't a script for TDKR before Heath's death. I personally felt that the ending of TDK set it self up for a sequel with the unanswered of questions of the Dent cover up and leaving Batman in the eyes of the public as being a murderer were things that needed to be addressed. But that's a separate discussion. Back to TDKR. With Heath's death that immediately would have taken the Joker out of the 3rd film. So I'm not quite sure were all this "joker as the judge" thing comes from because my understanding is that TDKR was developed and written after Heath's death. As far as I'm concerned, especially given Heath's performance, there would have been enough evidence for Heath to have been featured prominently in the 3rd Batman film as there is for him not to be in it.

 

[Boom]

We've often heard that the original plan was to hold off on Harvey Dent's disfigurement until the third film, and for the Joker to be the one to do it. Obviously that plan changed, but it had nothing to do with Ledger's death. They finished principal photography on TDK prior to his passing, which means they had already made the decision to wrap up Harvey's arc in that film - leaving the third film wide open.

 

[shauner111]

Looking forward to that documentary. I wonder if we'll get more insight into his Joker preparation, and new interviews from the cast and crew from TDK.

 

[BaelaTargaryen]

The trailer of the documentary.

[YT]5PPTDsTnaPk[/YT]

 

[The Joker]

Rewatched TDK last night, and no matter how many times I watch it, Heath's performance still leaves me spellbound. I can't imagine a villain performance ever getting better than this.

 

[shauner111]

I honestly don't think Ledger's Joker is the single greatest villain performance of the 21st century, never mind of all time. And I can't think that it will be unbeatable because of that.

To me he's in the top 3 this century. Maybe tied with Bardem's Anton or slightly above that. But I think Daniel Day Lewis as Daniel Plainview and Waltz as Hans Landa takes the cake.

Heaths Joker is at the top of his genre no doubt but I don't agree that it's the greatest. Not that it's not as good, but I don't think he's as scary as the others I mentioned.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

Yup. I would put Anton slightly ahead.

 

[Boom]

2007 - Anton Chigurh
2008 - The Joker
2009 - Hans Landa

Hell of a trifecta right there.

 

[Indy Flash]

The Dark Knight Poster, Joker Watching Everything Burn. Heaths' Performance Still,The Best.

 

[The Joker]

That's a great poster, though it seems kind of wrong Alfred and Lucius have bigger face pics than everyone else lol.