New 'Batman' villian named

New \'Batman\' villian named

It was kind of hinted to at the end of Batman Begins, but I guess now it's official.

Heath Ledger has been chosen to play the Joker in The Dark Knight.

Re: New \'Batman\' villian named

Casting him seems to be REALLY trendy at the moment

I remember when he was only the weirdo in 10 things I hate about you .. I guess I'm getting old

Re: New \'Batman\' villian named

Casting him seems to be REALLY trendy at the moment

I remember when he was only the weirdo in 10 things I hate about you .. I guess I'm getting old

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Or a couple more years back as the guy with the skinny ponytail on ROAR.

Re: New \'Batman\' villian named

Wow.

Wasn't even aware the next Batman movie was announced....

Heath Ledger as The Joker? Man, I find that pretty tough to imagine.

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I love Heath Ledger, and I'm not talking about the pansy-arse Knight's Tale crap. He was amazing in Ned Kelly. Go rent it if you want to see his potential. He should have been nominated for an oscar, IMHO.

Should be interesting.

Re: New \'Batman\' villian named

I dunno...



He does kinda have a freakish grin...

Edit: I did start to watch A Knight's Tale over the weekend, and I was doing ok with it up until a 5-minute long scene of a jousting crowd drumming & clapping along to Queen's We Will Rock You. Turned THAT sumbitch off real quick...

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Well the casting for the first flick was almost flawless, so no reason to think it won't be great again. Though I have never watched a single flick with Ledger, I see no reason why he can't be Joker. Frankly, I think a lot of the pretty boy/girl actors are more talented than they seem, they just get crappy roles 'cause that's what's out there. And anyway, acting ain't hard- if he can be a gay cowboy and a rock 'n' roll knight, he can be a cartoonish supervillain.

I'm really more interested in how the Joker will be written.

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A friend of mine suggested Paul Bettany for the role, and it seemed like a good idea to me, so I'm a little disappointed.

Of course, the guy they got to play Scarecrow in the last one was one of the better villains I've seen lately, so they'll have a hard time topping themselves.

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I'm really more interested in how the Joker will be written.

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Judging by the way "Batman Begins" was written, I'm hoping someone finally gets him right. Yes, Nicholson was a great Joker, and I don't fault him a bit for the role he played. But the Joker, who started out as one of Batman's lesser villains, eventually evolved into his definite worst enemy. Joker is the epitome of comic book villains. He has zero compassion, is massively psychotic, and a thrill-killer. He is by far the most insane villain in all of "comicdom." Even Marvel has yet to come up with a villain more sickeningly ... well.... sick.

The Joker has become less of a comedic figure (although he still loves puns and bad jokes) than he used to be. People often think of the Caesar Romero "Joker" from the 1960s TV show who made bombs that look like clowns & what not.

Joker murdered the second Robin (Jason Todd) after beating him nearly to death with a crowbar in front of Todd's own mother. When Joker was finished beating Jason with the crowbar, he tied a bomb to Jason's mother, left the building and proceeded to blow up the entire building just as Batman arrived on the scene. Joker got away as Batman was forced to retrieve the 2 smoldering corpses inside. That's the kinda guy Joker has become.

When Frank Miller wrote his "Dark Knight" series, Joker got even more insane.

The original, campy Joker we know and love (to hate):



He has since evolved into more of this:

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And guessing by the title of the second movie... I'm guessing they're gonna go the Miller route.

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Yep, serial killer Joker. Some versions of him have him do those evil things simply because he thinks it's actually funny. That would be an awesome aspect to Joker- that his jokes (even the non-deadly ones) aren't even funny- he's a hack comic, but also a murderer and criminal. He'd have nothing going for him (some fictional serial killers, like Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs at least have genuinely funny moments).

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When I learned that HL would be the Joker in the next Batman film, I was a bit dismayed. I had read an internet rumor over at the Trek board that Paul B. was in the running to play the Joker, and I was anticipating seeing him in the role.

As GKE pointed out, the casting of the first movie was flawless, and if memory serves, the same group of folks are set to helm this one. Therefore, I will refrain from gainsaying.

I though CM was amazing as the scarecrow. The doctor seemed so inconsequential at first, but he ended up being truly frightening in his own way.

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Ledger has a lot of range, should be good....

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I just thinks it's great that a US film series where the majority of good guys are portrayed by British actors has done so well commercially.

It's about time the stereotyping stopped... there is much more to the British than crazed villains and ancient mentors who get killed off.

Why do you suppose Hollywood seems to be moving away from the stereotypical English bad guy? What are peoples thoughts?

Re: New \'Batman\' villian named

I just thinks it's great that a US film series where the majority of good guys are portrayed by British actors has done so well commercially.

It's about time the stereotyping stopped... there is much more to the British than crazed villains and ancient mentors who get killed off.

Why do you suppose Hollywood seems to be moving away from the stereotypical English bad guy? What are peoples thoughts?

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Ledger isn't British .. but then .. neither is he playing a good guy

I guess it helps that the guy behind the new series - Christopher Nolan - is himself British.

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I know Ledger isn't British... but I'm pretty sure Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Christian Bale are. Flip... If Michael Caine's not English, then who is? LOL

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It's about time the stereotyping stopped... there is much more to the British than crazed villains and ancient mentors who get killed off.

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In a play there are normally 3 lead roles - the Hero, the Love Interest and the Villain. To carry the film they need to be played by good actors. There is a lot of competition for the roles of the Hero and the Love Interest so these roles go to people with influence within the studio, normally Americans with Californian accents.

There are a lot of actors who refuse to play the villain; they want to be loved or think it would be bad propaganda for their country.

British actors can act so they can play any role. They therefor win the villains role and any role with difficult words like the mentor.

Why do you suppose Hollywood seems to be moving away from the stereotypical English bad guy? What are peoples thoughts?

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Answer 9/11. The US public now has a group that they hate and who looks different.

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OH Andrew just admit it the english are just plain 'EVIL'. That why the english actors play villians and ,ties into the reason the sun never sets on the British Empire, god dosen't trust them in the dark.

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I would say that the Brits have a knack for acting evil-with-style.

Re: New \'Batman\' villian named

OH Andrew just admit it the english are just plain 'EVIL'. That why the english actors play villians and ,ties into the reason the sun never sets on the British Empire, god dosen't trust them in the dark.

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Yes we are evil, but we do it with a smile and a handshake....