8 Little Known Ways Jack Nicholson Made Burton’s Joker Awesome

5. He Fought For Top-Billing

Robert Downey Jr. is the star of Iron Man. Andrew Garfield of The Amazing Spider-Man. Christian Bale is the star of The Dark Knight Trilogy. But the star of Burton's Batman? According to all the marketing it's Jack Nicholson, with Bruce Wayne himself, Michael Keaton, taking second billing. You could argue this is justified. After all, the first half of the film shrouds Wayne in mystery, spending more time with reporters Vicki Vale and Knox, as well as the pre-transformation Jack Napier. But who in their right minds doesn't put Batman on top of the marquee for a Batman movie? This was all down the Nicholson. One of the multitude of conditions of his signing on to play the character the actor demanded he got top-billing in the publicity of the film. If that sounds a little self-gratifying you're half right. However, in putting the Joker front and centre the marketing made him an even more central element of Batman, making the audience love him that bit more.