Well Nicholson over rated he was the best joker but i suppose this is a new series of films and people should look to them as such not try and compare them, as well Batman was great, the second one was great and then the third and gfourth became family style films removing the horror side.
Now the horrorish side is back and great, Brody looks a good choice not seen his films or i'm unaware of him being in them...
norton is a good choice i agree. he has that twisted look about him, but i dont think they can afford his 10 mil per film price. Hes too good, and if they have Christian Bale (maybe Adrian Brody), plus whoever plays two face will definately have a part in the 3rd chapter, they cant afford Norton.
Honestly, i like Ed Harris. Great actor, looks the part
Get some old weird looking dude like Phillip Seymor Hoffman for it.
Hugo Weaving would be spilling too much into his Matrix role with the joker.
Bettany would be good in that in that role I feel.
Btw, I know practically nothing about the Batman from the comics, I've not until recently been a DC fan, so Dent is blank for me.