The Dark Knight Is Nolan abusing his reputation?

[Dark Phantom]

I'm a little upset over the casting of Ledger as Joker, although I would have preferred Lachy Hulme or even Paul Bettany. But the main reason I'm mad is because Nolan just picked Ledger out of the blue and we had knowledge of this what so ever. Now I may sound whiny like, "Nolan should listen to the fans first." But thats not the case.

Nolan built up a reputation with Batman Begins. He listened to the fans for casting choices before making his own. He went over to DC comic writers to ask for their approval before making any neccassary changes. My point is, it seems that Nolan is taking advantage of his status as a director. Many fans put their faith into Nolan, accepting mostly anything that will be developed in BB2. But now its like a stab in the back. Its like Nolan doesn't care who the fans want as Joker.

Maybe Ledger was really good in his screentest and Nolan saw something. Maybe Ledger will prove me wrong and make a great Joker in the film. But Nolan should have kept the fans informed that Ledger was a candidate. Its like he's forgetting to do everything that made BB such a huge success.

I'm sorry. i just had to get that off my chest.

 

[The Shape]

Well, here are my thoughts:

Obvsiously, this wasn't a decision that Nolan made all by himself. It's not like he kept this a secret from the rest of his film-making team. I'm sure there was much discussion with his collaborators on this decision. For all we know, he may have even taken this to DC writers and asked for their opinions.

But ultimately, it doesn't matter. This film is his vision, not the fans. He doesn't need to ask us who we think would make the best Joker, because we really don't know what's best for the film, and we don't have one, definitive candidate in mind, anyway. There's Hulme...Bettany...and endless others that we were campaigning for.


Nolan must have seen something in Heath Ledger that made him realize he was the best choice for the role. And right now, we have to put our trust in Nolan that he was right. Sure, he surprised us with this casting. But when the movie is released in 2008, and we see an amazing Joker, will it really matter that we weren't "in the know" for a few months?

I think not.

 

[Batty Belfry]

Dark Phantom, I didn't know what to think yesterday...but the more I thought about it, the more I think it will work, really well too! All I can say is that he must've done something that made Chris Nolan extremely content. For a movie like this, they've got to do a screen-test, right? Maybe his screen-test was awesome. He's not the first person to come to mind when thinking of the Joker, but IMO, he's not the worst.

Patience in the face of adversity grasshopper!!! I think (and hope!) that we'll get a kick-arse movie with a kick-arse Joker.

 

[X Knight]

but....then......Nolan is not obligated to keep us fan informed with every decision..........nor is he obligated to consult with us..........

I'm a bit surprised by the announcement.....assuming it is official. I would not have thought of Heath Ledger as the Joker........but Nolan assembled a terrific cast for the Begins......so I trust he will do the same for the sequel.

 

[Mee]

But the main reason I'm mad is because Nolan just picked Ledger out of the blue

Out of the blue for us maybe, but obviously Nolan has met with him and screentested him and thinks he's best for the job. It's not like he just put a bunch of names in a hat and came out with Ledger.

 

[DA Harvey Dent]

I think Nolan puts some stock in fan input, but ultimately he goes for who is right for the part. He said of Bale's casting, "its clear when you look in his eyes this is someone who can make you believe in someone devoting their life to something this extreme." It shows that he has a clear understanding of what the character is about and then connects this with the actor he feels best fits the part. I'm as shocked as everyone else about the Ledger casting, but he must be what Nolan is looking for in the joker. As outsiders, we can only judge an actor by their performance in movies. Ledger can act and has the look but more importantly he had something that Nolan saw - something that we can't judge, yet.

 

[Cinemaman]

I trust Nolan and his vision. He is very smart and good director, who knows what he is doing with Batman franchise.

He made masterpiece like Memento and he returned Dark Knight to life.

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

Well, if he listened ALL the time to the fans......we would not have gotten Murphy as Scarecrow. Or Caine as Alfred. Or maybe even Oldman as Gordon.

All those actors OWNED the roles.....so, I think you need to think about that too.

And...I don't think he got approval from anyone anywhere. He took advice, and ran with it. I don't think anyone had to approve anything at DC. He just did his homework.

 

[Two-Face]

Like everyone else said Nolan must have seen something in Ledger that made him think "yep, he's or Joker" so I trust Nolan.

 

[Ronny Shade]

I thought Nolan only had a rep with Bat-fans I mean Begins was successful, but it wasn't Spider-Man successful

 

[TheBat812]

This seems like an odd casting choice to me, but I trust Nolan implicitly, and Ledger is an incredible actor. I'm not worried.

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

Uh....isn't POTC2 the ONLY film that's Spidey successful?

Or twice that?

But..Batman Begins pwns both Spidey films.

 

[Ronny Shade]

you know what I mean though. It's not like he's Speilberg to the general public. just to us bat-fans

 

[Batty Belfry]

This is only my opinion, but...

I'm not a comic-geek across the board, I like some, like Batman and X-Men. Not a Spidey fan. The Spiderman movies appealed more to my 8 year-old than me. Didn't really care for it. But Batman Begins had the psychological mind-frell that I was looking for...a more mature and adult oriented film. The box office $$ doesn't really matter to me. I was just happy folks gave the movie the respect it deserved...

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

Nah, I think he is getting a rep. Batman Begins did that for him.

Look at the new Presitge trailer....it's got him as a headliner...."FROM THE DIRECTOR OF BATMAN BEGINS AND MEMENTO".........so, the studio wouldn't put that in there if they didn't think people would be like "Oh he's done good work".

Plus....he's still a very young director. Dude has made leaps and bounds in a handful of films. He might not be a Speilberg.....atleast not yet. But, if he keeps up the way he is...he'll become a huge name director some day.

 

[LadyVader]

Listen to the fans? Listen to what!? Everybody squabbled, pledging their undying loyalty to one actor or another. Joker's casting is far more difficult a process then Batman's casting. There was no other way then for him to go with his gut and hope that the fans will trust him, given the fact that he did deliver in the first one.

And yes. We have not details as to how this decision was made just yet. I doubt Nolan just went through a mental list and thought: "Hey, that australian bloke who isn't Hugh Jackman might do. Let's get him."

 

[Two-Face]

I can imagine now:

nolan: "Hey Bat-fans, I'm considering Haeth Ledger as Joker what do you think"

Bat-fans: "No way" some would say "yes way"


but seriously Nolan has to do nothing to ask us who should be joker

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

LOL....yeah...I think most people here assume he just pulled the Ledger's name out of his magic hat.

**** went down, we didn't know.....that's it.

 

[Mr. Socko]

Seriously, I never thought Bale would have pulled off Batman.

 

[Batty Belfry]

Nah, I think he is getting a rep. Batman Begins did that for him.

Look at the new Presitge trailer....it's got him as a headliner...."FROM THE DIRECTOR OF BATMAN BEGINS AND MEMENTO".........so, the studio wouldn't put that in there if they didn't think people would be like "Oh he's done good work".

Plus....he's still a very young director. Dude has made leaps and bounds in a handful of films. He might not be a Speilberg.....atleast not yet. But, if he keeps up the way he is...he'll become a huge name director some day.

The man is definitely great at crafting a good story!

 

[Mr. Socko]

Woah, Nolan ain't that young is he

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

Well, I think he was the fan favorite choice who got the part.

But, actors like Murphy, Caine, Wilkenson, and even Oldman to an extent were all met with a huge "Wtf" attitude.

 

[Mr. Socko]

I remember when Sirius Black was cast as Gordon. I was like "WTF R THEY THINKING"

 

[Saint]

This topicv is silly; Nolan never based his casting decisions on what the fans wanted. The fans never said Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Ken Watanabe, or Cillian Muprhy should be in the film in any capacity. The ONLY casting that lined up with fan choice was Christian Bale--and I'd wager Nolan only cared about Bale's talent, not that he was a fan favourite.

Nolan doesn't cast who the fans want, he casts who's best for the role--so I guess that's Heath Ledger.

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

Yup. Well said.