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Heath Ledger, cast as the Joker in Chris Nolan's The Dark Knight follow up to Batman Begins, says he's got no love for the source material.

Talking with Dark Horizons on how his Oscar nomination has affected his career, Ledger said: "I think there's a new level of interest kind of thing but I haven't really acted on it, since the only thing I've really done since is this Todd Haynes film and The Joker."

Already a controversial choice, Ledger continued that ordinarily taking a part in a super-hero film wouldn't interest him. "I actually hate comic book movies, like f***ing hate them, they just bore me s***less and they're just dumb. But I thought what Chris Nolan did with Batman was actually really good, really well directed, and Christian Bale was really great in it."

Ledger says he's looking forward to playing a truly evil character. "He's going to be really sinister and it's going to be less about his laugh and his pranks and more about just him being a just a f***ing sinister guy."

However, his agent is happy with the money the role brings: "I'm sure they're super happy that I'm doing this, because this is the first time I've really kind of taken something like that, so they're over the moon. But I think it's just going to be a really fun experience, and I love to dress up and wear a mask."

No costumes have been designed, but Ledger says that "I've seen a few interesting designs on the look and I think that it's going to look pretty cool."

Ledger really doesn't know how to convince the weary fans that he'll do a good job, does he? lol I'm concerned about it, as I have been since day one. I trust Nolan, I trust Bale/Oldman/Freeman/Caine...I don't trust Ledger yet.

I was worry something like this would happen. The ego of the actor interfering with the production. I really hope Nolan keeps discipline during the production. It would be a shame the sequel gets more attention because of an actors behaviour than for the production itself.

If his hearts not in it....... I hope Nolan knows what he is doing...... i saw the special features on begins DVD again last night and Nolan seems to have used inspiration from the comics rather than movies/tv so he knows what is successful. he is going to have to do it the way he wants and not what ledger wants

From those comments it only says that he hates comicbook MOVIES.Not comicbooks.Sounds like a smart guy to me because sadly most comicbook movies DO suck- The batman movies before batman begins are prime examples.Hollywood seldom ever stays loyal to the source material and finds ways to screw up the characters and be disloyal to the source material.From these comments Ledger sounds pretty smart to me.Nolan did do a great job of directing batman begins and was one of the few directors to actually make a great comicbook film that at the same time stayed loyal to the source material for the most part.

gawwd, why the f*ck did this fruitcake have to get drafted as the Joker.???!!

I'm pissed because now it's going to be some character calling himself the Joker, but being nothing like him. Plus, it will take attention away from the film like Katie Holmes did.

damn, this is going to be bad. if the joker isn't done right im going to boycott all batman films forever. From what source did the interview come from? Link? Magazine?

This all makes me laugh... I hate to admit it but it does.... because from the moment I heard Heath had the part I knew this was going to happen... but no one believed me... well its in writing now so, HAH!

Sorry... don't mean to be mean... its just a bit ironic is all....

Oh y God... I'll kill Ledger if this goes wrong!!!!

Come on guys, i think that you all are going too far. Like mr parker said well, the only thing that Ledger said was that he hated the movies based on comics books, and loved batman begins and Nolan and Bale work in the movie. It sounds right for me. I think that Ledger is a very smart and intelligent person with a lot of talent and he could do a great job with the joker character.

And did you know what? Chris Reeve never read a superman comic book, and he was great. Gary oldman the same , and he was a great gordon. So ,Ledger saying that he hated comic books MOVIES not comic books doesnt mean anthing.

Who gives a s*** what his taste in movies is??

Is he writing or directing this movie?? No. He'll do what Nolan tells him to do.

Originally posted by bakerboy


And did you know what? Chris Reeve never read a superman comic book, and he was great. Gary oldman the same , and he was a great gordon. So ,Ledger saying that he hated comic books MOVIES not comic books doesnt mean anthing.

Big difference between never read a comic book and actually saying this:



Which could be a challenge for a director like Nolan to work....Nolan loves comic books. However, if Ledger is the true actor he claims to be he'll put that hatred aside and work with Nolan. Otherwise he can hit the road.

Lets see, when an actor said that he never read a comic book, he doesnt have any idea about the source origin, but with the director and the scripter help and his own talent and intuition could do a great job.

In the other hand, when ledger said that he hates comic books? Because in his interviews, he said he hated the movies based on comic books, no the comic books itself.

how about we tie Heath Ledger up, send him to arkham, and have the joker have a ball with him?

He should have chosen his words better or further elaborated. Telling an audience that questions his abilities to pull off the character that a) he wants it to be something we've never seen before, b) it's not about his laugh, its about his eyes, and the c) that he "F*CKING" hates comic book movies (not even just hates - and you know how rare it is to see a curse in an interview, let alone the big gun and my fav of them all lol)....that's like someone getting the role of Captain America and saying "I see him more at odds with his duties than he is in the comic. I mean, I don't need to make him heroic, right? Plus I hate America." Haha.

Sadly, after seeing Brokeback, I will NEVER be able to picture Ledger as a straight guy ever again...

Ledger better do a decent job...

Originally posted by TMACalicious
Sadly, after seeing Brokeback, I will NEVER be able to picture Ledger as a straight guy ever again...

Ledger better do a decent job...

Actually I don't think he even did a good job as a "gay guy" in Brokeback Mountain... it just wasn't that good a movie if ya ask me... didn't deserve half the recognition it got award-wise....

But I just can't picture him as the Joker at all, has nothing to do with the roles he's done previously, I just can't picture him as the Joker... and his comments in that interview only further my suspicions about him not being a good Joker.... but we will have to see I suppose........

Originally posted by Doc Ock
Who gives a s*** what his taste in movies is??

Is he writing or directing this movie?? No. He'll do what Nolan tells him to do.

But with less enthusiasm and Joker-like qualities.

One person, if big enough, can totally screw up a movie. If the writer wrote a piece of garbage, no director or actor can make it good. If you have someone with a terrible, wretched performance, it can overshadow the movie and make it stupid. If the director is horrible or the producers (cough*Schumacher*cough), it suffers gravely as well. Films need to be harmonized...they aren't legos where you just stack up certain things and it all fits in perfectly...let's just hope Ledger doesn't look to get his hole filled in this one.

I didn't think it was possible, but that was not only a valid comment on the film industry, but also a lego AND gay joke.....this is what you get at 3 in the morning from me folks lol.

Originally posted by lordofwar
Heath Ledger, cast as the Joker in Chris Nolan's The Dark Knight follow up to Batman Begins, says he's got no love for the source material.

Talking with Dark Horizons on how his Oscar nomination has affected his career, Ledger said: "I think there's a new level of interest kind of thing but I haven't really acted on it, since the only thing I've really done since is this Todd Haynes film and The Joker."

Already a controversial choice, Ledger continued that ordinarily taking a part in a super-hero film wouldn't interest him. "I actually hate comic book movies, like f***ing hate them, they just bore me s***less and they're just dumb. But I thought what Chris Nolan did with Batman was actually really good, really well directed, and Christian Bale was really great in it."

Ledger says he's looking forward to playing a truly evil character. "He's going to be really sinister and it's going to be less about his laugh and his pranks and more about just him being a just a f***ing sinister guy."

However, his agent is happy with the money the role brings: "I'm sure they're super happy that I'm doing this, because this is the first time I've really kind of taken something like that, so they're over the moon. But I think it's just going to be a really fun experience, and I love to dress up and wear a mask."

No costumes have been designed, but Ledger says that "I've seen a few interesting designs on the look and I think that it's going to look pretty cool."

He hates comic book movies, not comic books

Originally posted by Ultraman Baltan
But with less enthusiasm and Joker-like qualities.

Two things:

1. He said he hates comic book MOVIES, not comic books.
2. He said he liked Batman Begins.

How does this equate to less enthusiasm and Joker-like qualities??

Originally posted by OB1-adobe
He hates comic book movies, not comic books

thank you.glad to see someone else here actually READ what the original thread starter posted.People here need to chill out,they're getting all worked up over nothing.again folks,he only said he doesnt like comicbook MOVIES.big deal,like he said,most comicbook movies ARE dumb .He said he liked Nolans work with what he did with Batman Begins,thats all that matters so why is everybody getting so worked up? geez.take a chill pill people.

I have not, and never will see, Brokeback Mountain. Or should I say, Brokebutt?

I liked Heath's performance in a Knight's Tale. I never would have cast him as the Joker. However, I am not a director.

Apparently, this is not the Joker we are familar with. The original Joker, from the Batman comic books, was not a dressed up clown. He was a seriel killer whose victims had a smile on their faces. This will not be the Jack Nicholson Joker, which is a good think. Who could have topped Jack's performance?

Well, to be honest, Sean Penn could have topped it. Penn is one of the greatest actors alive today. He would have been an unbelievable Joker. However, Heath is the Joker, so I hope Nolan has him play it completely different.

The Joker in the comics thinks he is funny, but actually he isn't. He is a tragic character who was driven crazy after he lost his pregnant wife (and then he was dropped into that vat of chemicals by Batman).

I think that sometimes truth hurts, and it coming from Ledger, who is to play the joker in a batman movie, hurts more. Because basically, the did say the truth, comic books movies are dumb the most of the times. What is true. Except first two superman, batman begins, sin city and a pair of some others, comic books movies are dumb and repetitive.

And i have a question for madcap. How do you know that the joker that Ledger will play isnt the joker that we are familiar with?

Also, i think that Sean Penn is one of the finest actors working today. But doesnt want to play this kind of movies, he usually chooses more risky material and smaller films. But i really think that Ledger is better for the part than penn, he looks more as the joker and he is a very talented actor, maybe not as Penn, but a great actor too.

Jack Nicholson was a decent joker. I liked him at times but i disliked him at times. He doesnt look the part at all and the most of the times, he was playing himself more than the joker. Jack being Jack in a joker costume.

wow this looks great! For someone who hates comic book movies to really go for and be happy about being in one says alot about the director and the other cast members.

I'm going to be worried about "The Ledger Decision" until I see something that convinces me otherwise. So far, he has yet to show me anything that would help me give him a thumbs up, including any movie role he's been in. Now, I'm not saying he's a BAD actor...I'm just saying I don't think he's the best choice for this particular role and nothing is persuading me otherwise. True, comic book movies are sometimes bad, but if he does something too drastic with the character (like that comment about the smile not being important- come one now, that's like saying it doesn't matter if Luke Cage is black lol). I honestly think that Nicholson's performance was OK, but not "dead on, omg I'm about to cream my pants" caliber. Up until this day, I think the best incarnation we've seen of The Joker has been Mark Hamill/Bruce Timm's TAS (and its subsidiaries including the JLU) version. He was creepy, funny (yet not STUPID funny, it was a dark humor you felt guilty about laughing at), totally psychotic, intelligent, and most important of all - a deadly prick in Batman's side. A darker Joker = I'm all for it. A Joker with no smile = You won't be seeing a smile from me, either.

Yeah I agree with you Nofate that the best Joker incarnation we have had so far is Mark Hamills Joker from Batman the TAS series.

Its really a shame that he doesn't look the part and is too old. I'd love to have that voice and understanding be transferred to someone that has the "Joker-nose" and all that lol.

Let's get this straight... Paul Bettany stole the show in A Knight's Tale. I'm just not so sure about the "It's going to be less about his laugh" part. When I go into the theatres, I'm going to want to hear that famously great Mark Hamill Joker laugh that sends chills down my spine.

Originally posted by Neutro
Let's get this straight... Paul Bettany stole the show in A Knight's Tale. I'm just not so sure about the "It's going to be less about his laugh" part. When I go into the theatres, I'm going to want to hear that famously great Mark Hamill Joker laugh that sends chills down my spine.

I agree completely with everything you just said, LOL!

I'm looking forward to hearing Ledger "attempt" that laugh... its either going to be acceptable or awful, either way it will be nowhere near the greatness of Mark Hamill.

Originally posted by bakerboy
I think that sometimes truth hurts, and it coming from Ledger, who is to play the joker in a batman movie, hurts more. Because basically, the did say the truth, comic books movies are dumb the most of the times. What is true. Except first two superman, batman begins, sin city and a pair of some others, comic books movies are dumb and repetitive.

And i have a question for madcap. How do you know that the joker that Ledger will play isnt the joker that we are familiar with?

The director of the movie, Chris Nolan, did an interview about it. He said he looked at the original comic books from the 1950's when the Joker was first introduced, and that character was a seriel killer...not the looney, clown faced Joker that we all know. If you do an internet search, you can find it. No time for a link...now...

I have read that interview too, and for me , that is the joker that i know. The one in the first batman comics, the one of the animated series, the one in the killing joke, etc. A real serial killer. But with the clow face. The joker has always that clow face and the white skin and the red lips and the green hair and that histerical smile. But sometimes he has been a psicho and sometimes a looney cartoon. I preffer the first version.

And for not fate, have you seen the first Ledger movies?I recomend you a movie titled the order, ledger was brillaint there.Another movies like two hands, Ledger plays very different and dark characters in those movies and he was very good. I think that he has a lot of potential, and i fell that he could be a great joker.

I admit that I haven't seen all of his movies, but I don't ever remember being particularly impressed in anything that I've seen him in...so I'm still not sold on him.

Originally posted by NoFate007
Its really a shame that he doesn't look the part and is too old. I'd love to have that voice and understanding be transferred to someone that has the "Joker-nose" and all that lol.

when you say that he doesnt look the part and is too old that describes jack nicholson to a tee. yeah that would be cool if jay leno could sound just like hamill does as the joker. he for sure looks the part. man thats a bummer,I cant imiagine a batman movie with joker not wearing his purple suit.thats the joker everybody all knows so they will be a little pissed about that which is understandable.

Take Leno's chin, Adrien Brody's nose, Mark Hamill's voice, and the rest of Vincent Cassel and you've got The Joker lol.

Originally posted by Mr Parker
thank you.glad to see someone else here actually READ what the original thread starter posted.People here need to chill out,they're getting all worked up over nothing.again folks,he only said he doesnt like comicbook MOVIES.big deal,like he said,most comicbook movies ARE dumb .He said he liked Nolans work with what he did with Batman Begins,thats all that matters so why is everybody getting so worked up? geez.take a chill pill people. Hpw the hell can YOU tell people to tae a chill pill? Fine, people overreacted, but you have no need to moan at them to calm down when half the time its you hopping around, looming like a moron and saying how you hate Raimi, Burton or Schumacher etc?

I've seen The Order as I am not only an avid Batman fan, but a huge film buff and granted his acting was good, I just don't know what to make of him as The Joker. Despite his comments, I'll make my final skeptical perception of him as the Joker once there is a trailer with The Joker in it.

Originally posted by NoFate007
I'm going to be worried about "The Ledger Decision" until I see something that convinces me otherwise. So far, he has yet to show me anything that would help me give him a thumbs up, including any movie role he's been in. Now, I'm not saying he's a BAD actor...I'm just saying I don't think he's the best choice for this particular role and nothing is persuading me otherwise. True, comic book movies are sometimes bad, but if he does something too drastic with the character (like that comment about the smile not being important- come one now, that's like saying it doesn't matter if Luke Cage is black lol). I honestly think that Nicholson's performance was OK, but not "dead on, omg I'm about to cream my pants" caliber. Up until this day, I think the best incarnation we've seen of The Joker has been Mark Hamill/Bruce Timm's TAS (and its subsidiaries including the JLU) version. He was creepy, funny (yet not STUPID funny, it was a dark humor you felt guilty about laughing at), totally psychotic, intelligent, and most important of all - a deadly prick in Batman's side. A darker Joker = I'm all for it. A Joker with no smile = You won't be seeing a smile from me, either.

I agree nofate! =) The Joker should be dark and sinister, but .. the laugh and smile are EVERYTHING. Mark Hamill's Joker is the best... Exactly as he should be in 'The Dark Knight'.. (in MY opinion)

Originally posted by Doc Potato
Hpw the hell can YOU tell people to tae a chill pill? Fine, people overreacted, but you have no need to moan at them to calm down when half the time its you hopping around, looming like a moron and saying how you hate Raimi, Burton or Schumacher etc?

perfect example of a guy who needs to chill.

Originally posted by NoFate007
Take Leno's chin, Adrien Brody's nose, Mark Hamill's voice, and the rest of Vincent Cassel and you've got The Joker lol.

anyways back to the topic at hand here.heh heh,good point.

I would rather have Mark Hamill be the Joker, he voiced him in the Animated series

I think Toby (who plays spidey) said he had never read a comic book and never would in an interview. Do any actors who play a comic character like comic books?

From what I've seen so far, most of them aren't too familiar with it, but they start reading them and then they get obsessed.

Perhaps it's only internet geeks like us who aren't famous actor's who read comics?

Originally posted by Neutro
Perhaps it's only internet geeks like us who aren't famous actor's who read comics? I wouldve voted for Marilyn Manson to be The Joker, He's already a sick twisted puppy. Acting skills would of course help but he's got the years of bein a freak on the stage.

NO WAY. And for Parker, dude, seriosuly... enough with the vendettas and your attempts to be cool. If you have such a problem with Burton's films, dont watch them. Simple as that. Try not to spread your smiley- ridden hypocrisy (and heresy too!) across the fprums, it really doesnt help most threads, other than filling them with page after page of spam. And, no, the Spider-Man movies ARe Spider-Man, not Man-Spider, or can you not read?

someone seriously needs a chill pill.Man I have never seen someone before who is so obsessed over an argument that took place so long ago about a movie.

Originally posted by Mr Parker
someone seriously needs a chill pill.Man I have never seen someone before who is so obsessed over an argument that took place so long ago about a movie. Parker, you do know I've posted in the Spider-Man forum before in my life? And try learning some grammar... It's what smart people do!

Dude hate to tell you this but there is nothing wrong with that post grammar wise.grow up and and get over an argument that took place ages ago.YOU are in no position to be giving out lectures to people about bashing Batman movies,YOU did it constantly all the time as much as I used to.

Let's keep this in a discussion level and no hostility.

Is there not such a thing as a hostile discussion?

Originally posted by Doc Potato
NO WAY. And for Parker, dude, seriosuly... enough with the vendettas and your attempts to be cool. If you have such a problem with Burton's films, dont watch them. Simple as that. Try not to spread your smiley- ridden hypocrisy (and heresy too!) across the fprums, it really doesnt help most threads, other than filling them with page after page of spam. And, no, the Spider-Man movies ARe Spider-Man, not Man-Spider, or can you not read?

Keeping that theory, if you have a problem with mr parker posts, dont read it, simple as that. This is a free forum , dude, dont be some kind of nazi fascist with that kind of ideas.

Thanks Bakerboy,good advise but its a little late for that now.you should have said that a week ago because this discussion ended a week ago.

This whole topic ended a week ago lol.

Yes, that is what happens for being too late .

Ledger can hate comics books or comic book movies all he wants, bottom line is that Heath Ledger has to follow what Chris Nolan has written in his screenplay. No deviation.

Nolan knows what fans want and will make sure to keep Ledger in check if he decides to go way off into his own "Joker" world.

I hope Ledger plays the Joker more sinister than comical. Someone to fear rather than laugh at his antics.




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