New 'Batman' names its Joker

[Leon]

Heath Ledger to take on role of criminal mastermind


LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) -- Batman is heading into a sequel, titled "The Dark Knight," and he will face off against the Joker, this time played by Heath Ledger.

Christian Bale, the star of last year's "Batman Begins," will reprise his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Christopher Nolan is returning to the directing chair.

Ledger, Oscar-nominated this year for his role in "Brokeback Mountain," resurrects a murderous role memorably played in 1989 by Jack Nicholson in Tim Burton's "Batman."

"Batman Begins" was a critical and commercial hit, and relaunched the Warner Bros. franchise.

An early 2007 start date is being eyed for the sequel. Before then, Bale and Nolan will be in theaters this fall with the Disney release "The Prestige."

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Movi...eut/index.html

[gwilks98]

Good luck playing a better joker than Nicholson. It must have been a hell of an audition.

[Memo]

I don't like the choice, but I liked Btaman Begins. So, we'll just have to wait and see. Hopefully they don't make one good Batman movie and then numerous horrible sequels. As long as they're not air-surfing off the broken door of a rocket, I think they'll be ok.

[Freelance Superhero]

wow... i'm trying my damnedest, but i just cannot see heath ledger in that role.

jack nicholson made a good joker because he was (and is), well, a little crazy to begin with. ledger is just so blahhh and boring. but, i think the people behind the movie realize the odds are stacked against them in that respect, so i'm guessing they must have something up their sleeves, something about ledger that i'm just not seeing.

interesting...

[LPMiller]

considering how the scarecrow was done, I'm guessing they are going for a much more psycho character than the 'clown prince of crime'. The biggest problems with the older batman movies, and the one thing that worked well in the new one, is that the villian doesn't overshadow the hero. I think Heath as a made up clown being wacky insane won't work, but I don't think that's the plan anyway.

[redcolours]

thats actually going to be interesting with Heath ledger as The Joker.

we're all thinking about the precedent (Jack nicholson), and the way he did it was what we expected the Joker to be, and it was done well. no surprises.

the way the NEW Batman has been reworked, id love to see them make something totally different. I hated the batmobile initially, but it worked well with the movie. I didnt think Christian Bale would make a decent Batman, but it worked. Michael Caine as Alfred? seems too polished of an actor to play an otherwise integral yet "seems-too-small-of-a-role" situation.

And again, the whole Batman franchise has been revamped. The 90s Batman was born out of a pre-joker murder. This new millennium batman was born straight out of his own fear. Clearly the characters are the same, but the story isnt.

the first batman series is more straight out of a PG-rated setting. almost comical. The new one is far darker and more ominous. i too would be interested to see how they develop the characters in the new one.

[ShawnLee]

thats actually going to be interesting with Heath ledger as The Joker.

we're all thinking about the precedent (Jack nicholson), and the way he did it was what we expected the Joker to be, and it was done well. no surprises.

the way the NEW Batman has been reworked, id love to see them make something totally different. I hated the batmobile initially, but it worked well with the movie. I didnt think Christian Bale would make a decent Batman, but it worked. Michael Caine as Alfred? seems too polished of an actor to play an otherwise integral yet "seems-too-small-of-a-role" situation.

And again, the whole Batman franchise has been revamped. The 90s Batman was born out of a pre-joker murder. This new millennium batman was born straight out of his own fear. Clearly the characters are the same, but the story isnt.

the first batman series is more straight out of a PG-rated setting. almost comical. The new one is far darker and more ominous. i too would be interested to see how they develop the characters in the new one.

Except for one point.

I disagree that the nineties series (even though the first was in '89) was all PG. I remember loving the Tim Burton Batman movies for their darkness, and even them scaring me a little bit.
That, or it's because I was a pre-teen when I watched the first one.

Yeah, but otherwise. Dude. I'd be the first to decry Heath Ledger as wrong for the role, but they did wonders with Bale and the Batmobile. As long as they don't screw this up for a cheap buck, I'll be happy.

[Sirrich3]

I agree with gwilks

[LegendKiller]

To the above points, I think people should chill a bit. Obviously Nolan is pretty damn talented and will make a decent movie. Everybody (including me) was up in arms over the Batmobile, and Bale and Scarecrow dude. However, they played it off well. I think that he seems to know a bit about casting and he found his Joker in Ledger. I hope he is right, otherwise it could sink a resurging franchise.

[gwilks98]

I don't understand why people are hating on the batmobile. Are we upset over the way it looked? I saw it as the prototype that the batmobile came from. Sort of a pre-batmobile vehicle. I bet this next one has something closer to what you're looking for.

[Thesifer]

Well if they are going to have Matt Damon (whom I like as an actor) Play Young James T. Kirk.. They might as well have Heath as the Joker