Heath Ledger's casting may have been met with widespread dismay by most fans of the character, but he smashed his performance out of the park and justifiably won a posthumous Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for it. The movie saw The Joker emerge somewhat out of the blue in Gotham City, with no definitive back-story, with the intention of publicly revealing Batman's identity by killing someone every day until the hero voluntarily unmasks. This Joker was chaotic, madcap and colourful and as opposite to the titular hero as any version in the character's history, and the rivalry between him and Batman would undoubtedly have continued on screen had it not been for Ledger's sudden and premature demise.
