Whether you believe that the next Batman film should be a continuation of the Nolan universe (albeit with different personnel), one issue that will dominate the early news of any new Batman film will be who the studio and the script-writers will choose to play the role of the villain. Some will argue that the film-makers should go with new options, bringing in antagonists like Clay Face who we haven’t yet seen, and other that they should give Nolan-like treatments to popular villains like The Penguin, The Riddler, or Mr Freeze who have already appeared in very different (and not wholly successful) forms in other Batman films. But for my money, there is only one villain who should be the first addition to cast-list, and that villain is the Joker.
It is for good reason that the character is considered one of the greatest screen villains – he is the only comic book character to have won an Oscar, and his two appearances on the big screen (in modern films) are easily the best two Batman films committed to film. The Joker has become a cultural phenomenon, inspiring thousands of Halloween costumes, and he sustains the kind of enduring appeal in the comics and on animated versions of Batman that confirm his status.
Obviously, any return of the Joker would inevitably lead to the question of casting, and what direction the next director would take in the light of Heath Ledger’s tragic death, and how iconic his performance is viewed by Batman fans, and we will deal with that question in due time.
Unfortunately, there may be some stigma attached to reintroducing the Joker, following the James Holmes case, but the actions of a single unstable person who attaches themselves unhealthily to a cultural phenomenon would do nothing but empower other like-minded individuals seeking to make that sort of devastating statement.
Read on to discover our reasons that the Joker must return.
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11 Comments
There is a very valid reason for the joker not being mentioned in TDKR, Heath Ledgers death. Any remark about the joker would remind us all of the fact that HL is no longer around to play the character again. It would be tarnishing his memory and would be painful for his family. In my eyes the joker has been confined to solitary confinement wearing a straight jacket locked in a padded cell in Arkham Asylum, absolutely no chance of escape and no reason to mention him at all in TDKR.
What if they did something like – have a character take up the Joker’s cause as a sort of copycat villain. Thus if the Nolan verse were to continue then the movie itself would be acknowledging that this is not THE Joker. The fact that his background is murky lends itself to someone else assuming the role. If they do not continue with the Nolan Batman then I see no reason not to recast the Joker. That would be like saying there can be no other Superman since Christopher Reeve died.
The very idea of the Nolanverse continuing makes my skin crawl.
Where does this nonsense about Mark Hamill playing the Joker in a live action movie spring from. Everyone spouts this rubbish like it’s the most obvious piece of casting.
Sure he does a decent vocal portrayal in the animated series and Arkham Asylum games, but since when does that qualify him to take on the live action role? There are plenty of v/o actors who don’t venture into full live action roles because they simply aren’t good enough.
There is a reason that Hamill has had little or no live action career since Star Wars. Do you really think that he has the ability to pull off this character in the flesh?
Thank you for saying something I’ve wanted to say for a very, very long time.
For the love of god people, you want the joker without the joker? Harley. Quinn. So easy to do, just have a little montage of her in a Psych office listening to tapes of interviews she conducted with him, over and over, until something snaps…there ya go, you get your joker and something new.
when it comes to the joker’s exclusion in TDKR, the only thing i can think of that brings me some peace of mind is this:
if we hold on to the idea that the nolan-bat-verse is set in a ‘realistic’ world, then it would make sense that after the events of TDK, wayne & gordon would have made damn sure that mrj never saw the light of day again. they would have stepped up security in a manner so great that even the clown prince wouldn’t have been able to escape. this idea makes it possible to explain why we never saw him again. i wouldn’t have minded a few lines of dialogue to explain this, but oh well. it was a very deep wound for all involved so i don’t fault them at all.
at least that’s what i tell myself.
I thinking origin story for the Joker would be great but the opening should be with the Joker standing in front of Batman tied to a chair and then the exchange a some dialogue and the have to joker give one of his long speeches he know for in the comics and run in to the this is why I do what I do then faded yo a much younger joker
I stopped reading when you suggested Mark Hamill for a live action Joker in a big budget Hollywood film.
In fact, there was a Joker in The dark knight rises. Matthew Modine.
maybe 10 years from now or something but it’s WAAAAY too soon to be thinking about the Joker being in the next Batman film. There are still a bunch of great Batman villians that had not been explored in Batman movies so why don’t we give them a shot, huh? Ledger’s death is still fresh in everyone’s mind and people wouldn’t like a new Joker being cast so soon after Ledger’s death. Sure, it could happen: I know in the next Sin City film, thanks to the deaths of Brittney Murphy and Michael Clarke Duncan (their characters were major players in the graphic novel), those characters would either be recast or taken out considering how close the film is to being released. I say we wait, people, we need patience. There are still other villians out there that could pose a threat to Batman and sure, I know Joker is Batman’s main villian, but I just think any director who takes on the mantle would fill it’s too soon to be thinking about a new Joker