I Believe in Harvey Dent Too – Heath Ledger Joker

// May 21st, 2007 // Comics, Movies

Heath Ledger as the Joker in the Dark Knight.

The whole I Believe in Harvey Dent campaign site was a lead-up to revealing the first official picture of Heath Ledger as the Joker. I can’t say that I’m terribly excited. It’s a little too far from the original Joker for me.

Having said that, I won’t pass judgment and I’ll still see the film. It’s too early to tell and one photo doesn’t really show or prove anything. I will say that it does look creepy, almost serial killer like, very John Wayne Gacy, Jr. I trust Christopher Nolan as a filmmaker, having like all of his previous work. This does mean that Carter and I probably won’t be seeing this one together. At least we have the Hulk and Iron Man to look forward to next year as well.

Added…SlashFilm has a great, detailed story on how the picture and site was revealed, beginning with a few Joker playing cards left in a comic book shop.

13 Responses to “I Believe in Harvey Dent Too – Heath Ledger Joker”

Cyclophile says:

July 1, 2007 at 6:21 pm

I have to say… that is the worst take on the joker I’ve ever seen (the pic).. what a disappointment.
Chris says:

July 13, 2007 at 1:20 pm

Honestly, do your homework. This is as close to the original as you can get. Ignore Tim Burton’s hack at the joker, and remember that Burton made a version marketable to the masses (Prince music and the original concept of batman have no business together)
Ray Fisk says:

July 31, 2007 at 2:54 pm

I think this will be best joker yet. As a man, Jack Napier, is a conceited man in love with his own image. After being disfigured, he goes crazy. Whether he paints himself up, or his skin is chemically altered, Chris Nolan is trying to make it believable for the movie and keep the cartoon aspect out of it. Joker as well as Batman, are crazy. One is evil and one is a vigilante. Its a dark story all the way around and should be represented as such. Good luck with this Joker ,Chris Nolan.
MilamberMR says:

August 2, 2007 at 6:53 pm

Read the Killing Game…that is where thye are coming from in the new dark knight movie. He did not paint his face there, he was a failed comedian, took a dive in the acid, and it turned him that way. That joker is a very dark and twisted person. That is what they are going for.
JC says:

September 6, 2007 at 1:21 pm

get it together, as mentioned above this is not a comicbook movie like what Tim Burton did, where the Joker is going to hold a parade, granted Jack did a great job there, but this is a totally different take where the Joker is just going to be a straight serial killing maniac, he’s supposed to have a face that will haunt you in your sleep and having perfect makeup wouldn’t do that…looking forward to this demented madman running around Gotham
Matt says:

September 12, 2007 at 3:00 pm

To respond to MilamberMR, its the “Killing Joke,” not the Killing Game! Tim Burton may have screwed up many important aspects of the batman universe, but the joker portrayed was excellent. I’d like to state that there is in fact no definate past to the joker, save it that he was robbing a chemical factory as the red hood and falls into a chemical vat as portrayed by Bob Kane in “The Man Behind the Red Hood,” issue #168, Feb. 1951. Joker himself even states in “The Killing Joke,” that he (and I paraphrase) would prefer to “have a past with multiple choice…” The only definite is that he is “Perma-clowned” so to speak, Heath Ledger’s Joker doesn’t follow that at all, so it is not logical to state that Heath’s Joker is more like the original. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that Heath’s joker will be a bad one, as long as he keeps the spirit of the joker and all of his mannerisms, but i am saying that he is most definately not the closest to the original.
Caz says:

September 27, 2007 at 7:00 pm

theres alot of good points made here, but the thing is that this is a whole new make of the batman seriers. they started over from bruce’s parents deaths and started building up from there. so they’re going to remake each character. with agreeing with JC said the joker isnt someone who should have the perfect slicked back hair and makeup as he did in Burtons flim. He should be scarred, crazy, and overall a phycopath. Burton made a good joker, but,i strongly feel that in this upcoming batman movie this is how the joker should have been protrade all along.
Caz says:

September 27, 2007 at 7:03 pm

a little typing error, it should be that the joker should NOT have the perfect slicked back hair and the makeup as jack nickleson did in tim burtons film.
Steve says:

October 14, 2007 at 4:53 am

The whole theme about these new movies is their almost ‘believability’. That may seem strange in a super-hero story, but that is the genius behind the movies. Their believability and realistic posibilities brings them more to life and therefore makes them more connected to our world and in doing so touches something inside us.

This Joker, like this Batman is not some Hollywood adaptation (although technically it is) but is looking at it through the eyes of the real world – and that is what makes this Joker truly the most terrifying of them all.

Take a good look at the picture.
lil ici says:

January 22, 2008 at 10:24 pm

This is basically the original Joker from the Dark comics an what not. they have just recently dumbed down the joker for children and basic television audiences that can’t take the insanity and gore. Come on, if you’re gonna be a Batman fan, at least know a lil history. I’m an 18 year old black female livin in the ghetto of atlanta and I know this stuff.
Kayla Bell says:

April 24, 2008 at 11:01 am

I this is a great portrayal of the Joker. Very wicked. He definately did a good job by the looks of it. He got into the character and brought out a side in Joker we havent seen in the movies. In the comic books the joker is less funny and more violent and dark. This represents the way he should have been in the Batman movie.
anarchy101 says:

July 19, 2008 at 11:07 pm

The joker portrayed in chris nolan’s film is based loosely on the graphic novels: the killing joke, archam asylum, and the long halloween. The authors suggested that in an attempt to prevent his own madness the joker created a super sanity, in which he created his personality every day to cope with the society that he never understood.
Shadow Master says:

September 28, 2008 at 11:04 pm

Love the name anarchy101. Hey, check out the site ‘why so serious?’ if u r soooooo into the joker like me. “I only have one question,” why did heath Ldger have to die?

And NOBODY dis Tim Burton, he’s a bloody genious. (Literally, have u seen Sweeney Todd?!) And so he made a few mistakes, who cares! It just opens the door to awesome people like Heath Ledger to take the lead and make a name for themselves. Oh! and, WHY SO SERIOUS?