8 Ways Heath Ledger’s Joker Almost Turned Out Completely Different

3. There Was Talk Of A Posthumeous Cameo In The Dark Knight Rises

As the Joker was, of course, still alive at the end of The Dark Knight, all through the production of The Dark Knight Rises there was speculation about whether there'd be some appearance from him.

The question looming even bigger than that was how it could be achieved in a manner respectful to Ledger. Recasting such an iconic role was out of the question (in any case, no one would dare take it on) and using CGI and previously unused footage would feel tacky, while the often rumoured easter egg of his cell, complete with scrawled gibberish on the wall, would too easily pull the audience out of the disparate plot.

It would be ridiculous to think that Nolan didn't consider each and every one of those ideas at some point in pre-production. Thankfully he understood quickly that even a small cameo would have greatly altered the legacy of Ledger's character. Nolan purposely gave Joker no backstory, having him appear a fully formed menace to greater increase his horror, and having him disappear under similarly mysterious terms makes him somewhat mythical. Knowing what happened to him, even it's as simple as being locked up for life, would negate the character's impact and give him some undeserved finality.

Although the film was totally Joker-free (and rightly so), the same can't be said of the novelisation. In a throwaway mention, it's revealed Joker is the sole inmate of Arkham, a strange concept, but one that explains why he's not tearing up Gotham in the film's latter half.