9 Harsh Truths DC Need To Face About Their Upcoming Movies

7. Heath Ledger's Joker Will Forever Tarnish Jared Leto's Incarnation

When it comes to the Joker, the studio have a huge and unrelenting problem: the character was immortalised in The Dark Knight, courtesy of Heath Ledger, and now all anybody wants to do is compare any follow-up attempts to that notably iconic performance. Fair enough, and not at all unexpected given the circumstances, but doesn't it also mean that any new versions of the character will fail to resonate as an important part of the DC Cinematic Universe as a result? Will people be so obsessed with making comparisons between Ledger and Jared Leto that the Joker's place in the DC Cinematic Universe will be lost amidst a debate that a) doesn't really mean anything and b) has no real point? The Joker has been interpreted a number of times, after all, and comparisons never seemed necessarily until now. But DC need to understand that no matter how different Leto tries to be, or how closely he tries to echo Ledger's Clown Prince, he will never, ever be able to live up to the performance that bagged the late actor an Oscar. Sad as it is to state, but it is a futile effort on the part of any actor - the pressure is too high, the expectations too hot. This must sit as something of an annoying and sobering thought where the studio are concerned, because their intention is to create something new that can be build upon. But sometimes an inheritance can be a bad thing, and the weight of Ledger's Joker has - in turn - spoiled one of the franchise's most important assets going forwards.