[25] Nolan explained Ledger's early and "peculiar" ambition for the voice of the character, saying that the actor had studied the way ventriloquist dummies talk. League of Shadows 1.1. Although this allowed the sequel to include the Joker and explore a darker version … The Joker was mentioned in Greg Cox's Novelization of the The Dark Knight Rises. The Joker was a quite tall young man (though his hunched posture made him appear slightly shorter than Batman), who was dressed in a custom-tailored purple suit that consisted of an elegant, purple coat and matching pin-stripe pants that were kept up by suspenders rather than a belt. This proved to be at least partially true, as the Joker was a competent strategist who could easily get inside people's heads, predict their actions, and plan accordingly. but stopped short of ramming him at the last second, which then forced him to crash. The irony of the rumor was that Beetlejuice was originally played by Michael Keaton, who played Batman in the 1989 movie and its 1992 sequel, Batman Returns. With that act, Joker acknowledged that Batman really was incorruptible but that Harvey was no longer the "White Knight;": Joker had unleashed the scarred man on the city. Rachel Dawes (First appearance) (Flashback and main story) 3. This corruption, this decay in the texture of the look itself. The Joker then willingly told Batman where Harvey and Rachel were located; however, Joker "knew" that Batman would choose Rachel and tricked Batman into saving Harvey instead and gave him Harvey's location and told him that it was Rachel's, and vice versa. Directed by Christopher Nolan. The Joker then laughed hysterically as he fell to his death, but Batman, who refused to kill him, instead caught him with his Grapple Gun and left him hanging for the GCPD to capture. ", "The Dark Knight: Heath Ledger Talks Joker", "A look at how Heath Ledger viewed his career, "Christopher Nolan Reflects on His Batman Trilogy, Heath Ledger & More", "Christopher Nolan Spends the 'Knight' at Lincoln Center: 5 Things Learned About Batman and Beyond", "Movies: In Stetson or Wig, He's Hard to Pin Down", "IESB Exclusive: Heath Ledger Talks the Joker! Batman then rescued Harvey as the building exploded and Harvey's face was badly burned, while Gordon was unable to rescue Rachel before the explosion. The only other person besides Bruce and Selina to have been along for the whole ride has been the Joker, and what he did in the past is going to have direct consequences on today and tomorrow. So we can learn to pick ourselves back up.” ― Batman Begins “Have you ever danced with the Devil in the pale moonlight?” ― Joker “I always claimed I became the Batman to fight crime. With Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine. Joker's unique (if rather disturbed) worldview, as well as the complete mystery that surrounded his identity also gave him something of an edge. The Joker then told Rachel another chilling story about where he got his Glasgow Smile: That time, the Joker had a wife who thought that he did not smile much. The Joker kills Lau and the Chechen, burns his half of the mob's money and takes over the Chechen's gang. It was released June 14, 2005, a day before the release of the film. The Joker and Batman have a very odd relationship as far as heroes and villains go. Dark Knight Trilogy novelization characters, his supposed extremely abusive and alcoholic father, Rottweilers that formerly belonged to the Chechen, Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, https://batman.fandom.com/wiki/The_Joker_(Nolanverse)?oldid=228679, Elements of Joker's character were referenced with. He viewed himself as not bad, good, or neutral, but rather a level higher than everyone else when it came to life. [10] Heath Ledger was cast before there was a script. That would not be a challenge and it would be mocking Mr. Nicholson, whom I have much respect for." On not being invited to reprise the Joker, Jack Nicholson remarked that he was "furious". Shortly following the bank robbery, Italian crime boss Sal Maroni mentioned the Joker's recent theft of Mob owned cash to his fellow crime leaders at a business meeting, dismissed him as a threat, and said that he was a "nobody" who wore a "cheap purple suit and make-up." Christopher Hooton, writing for The Independent, said that the 'Joker journal' had several stills from Stanley Kubrick's film A Clockwork Orange, joker cards, photos of hyenas, unhinged clown makeup and the word "chaos" highlighted in green. The Joker, incarnated with chilling authority by the actor, is simply one of the most twisted and mesmerizing creeps in movie history.". Joker was the only major antagonist in the trilogy who wasn't tied to the. Joker believed that superficial and meaningless chaos and selfishness was basic human nature and tried to get everyone to agree with that theory. And in 2008, Christian Bale's Batman found his in Heath Ledger's demented dervish, the Joker. Interrupting a videoconference between mob bosses Sal Maroni (Eric Roberts), the Chechen (Ritchie Coster) and Gambol (Michael Jai White) with their accountant Lau (Chin Han), he offers to kill Batman for half of the mob's money. Christopher Nolan and his Co-Writer, Jonathan Nolan, suggested Joker's first two appearances in 1940's issues of Batman as crucial influences. [9] Based on philosophical ideas of anarchy and chaos, they looked at art by Francis Bacon for visual reference and they talked about Malcolm McDowell's performance as Alex in Stanley Kubrick's film A Clockwork Orange, and who Alex is in Anthony Burgess' novel of the same name. Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb (First appearance) 4. [9] O'Sullivan acknowledged how Ledger, Nolan, and makeup artist John Caglione all gravitated towards a Francis Bacon painting Nolan was referring to. This corruption, this decay in the texture of the look itself. Batman Begins Technically, Leahy doesn’t have a credited cameo in Batman Begins , which is a shame. In addition, when Harvey gave Joker the coin's options and told him that he would die if the coin landed on the bad side, Joker said: "now we're talking!" He was portrayed by Australian actor Heath Ledger. The Joker was then successfully jailed at the GCPD, and, as a direct result, Gordon was then promoted to Commissioner by the Mayor. Details about MOVIE MASTERS Batman Begins Batman & The Dark Knight Joker, NEW SEALED Mattel See original listing. [7][8] The actor reflected on his problems with portraying superheroes, saying; "I would just feel stupid and silly. [12] Highlighting the opportunity for freshness, Ledger aimed for a new and different interpretation of the character, separate from previous film incarnations. 'Suicide Squad' (2016) Batman’s cinematic history has seen a lot of major stars step into the story — … [59] Kevin Smith commented on Ledger, calling his "incredible" performance among "the most frightening, smart and well-played villains ever. He's unbelievably dark. The Joker's scruffy and grungy make-up was intended as a reflection of his "edgy" character. Shortly after the death of Ra's Al Ghul, Batman discussed with Lieutenant James Gordon the effect that Batman had made on Gotham City since his appearance. After most of the police were gone, the Joker took his guard hostage and escaped by detonating a phone-activated bomb that he had surgically planted in the stomach of Kilson who was arrested with him, with Lau in tow. Several months later, a group of bank robbers, (Grumpy, Happy, Dopey, Chuckles, Bozo, and a Bus Driver) under the direction of the Joker, robbed Gotham National Bank which was used as a money-laundering front for Gotham's Gangs. When Gotham's district attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), attempts to draw him out by identifying himself as Batman, the Joker tries to kidnap him, only to be arrested and interrogated by Batman after Dent goes missing. While he used guns on many occasions, the Joker expressed his preference for knives because "guns are too quick" according to him. His voice frequently shifts in pitch, so that he speaks his dialogue hitting higher notes, followed by an immediate lower voice capable of landing two octaves below. Ever. Though, subtly, Joker kept his finger in front of the hammer of the gun, which kept it from firing prematurely. The Joker's invasion of Batman's psyche starts resulting in small, visible differences throughout Gotham City. Joker did not care for the people who worked for him; when one of his minions got electrocuted in his attempt at removing Batman's Mask, Joker laughed hysterically and then kicked him. Grumpy and Chuckles also implied when they reviewed the plan to rob Gotham National Bank that Joker had gotten his moniker due to his tendency to "sit out and take a slice." To in order to "give others the fun," Joker then threatened that if someone didn't kill Reese in sixty minutes, he would blow up a hospital. [6] Gilliam helped Ledger put on a clown act for that film, an experience the actor later acknowledged as an influence for his performance as the Joker. They are based in Gotham City. Between takes, Ledger would stay in costume and makeup just being himself. On January 22, 2008, after he had completed filming The Dark Knight, Ledger died from an accidental prescription drug overdose, which lead to intense press attention and memorial tributes. Thus, Joker then turned the disillusioned Harvey against society and against the "schemers" who put his and Rachel’s lives in danger, namely the corrupt cops who kidnapped them, as well as the "schemers" who viewed Rachel's life to be expendable: Batman and Gordon. It was therefore possible that, while neither story was true, that Joker genuinely believed them both as he told them. It all speaks to this idea of a character who's devoted to a concept of pure anarchy and chaos. That proved that Joker absolutely didn't care about himself and his life at all, only his desire to spread chaos and anarchy and proving that all men could be corrupted if they were pushed hard enough. [29], To get in character for filming, Ledger used his Joker diary which he carried with him on set. [23] The diary contains scrawling and cuttings inside. His shoes have an upward swoop at the toe, reminiscent of clown shoes. [57], Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times stated that Heath Ledger's portrayal is a "key performance" and pondered whether he would become the first posthumous Academy Award-winning actor since Peter Finch in 1976. It was most likely that Joker would remove his finger when Harvey would have fired the gun as Joker was shown on multiple occasions that he did not care about himself at all. One explanation for his fighting skills might have to do with his psychotic personality: Joker didn't really fear physical damage to himself like a normal person did, and, even when brutally injured, laughed at his own pain. At the end of Batman Begins, James Gordon (Gary Oldman) shows Batman the Bat-Signal and mentions the case of a criminal accused of bank robbery and homicide who leaves behind a certain playing card.Gordon hands the card to Batman and both him and the audience learn that the criminal is, in fact, the Joker. General Information "Neeson is commanding in the role of Wayne's mentor, … Gordon then revealed that a criminal with "a taste for theatrics" had recently committed a double homicide and an armed robbery and left behind a Joker playing card as a "calling card." This is the definitive Joker", calling the performance "a masterpiece". On a related note, Joker also had some irritation when he was referred to as a "freak" or another term that implied that he's deficient, which was best demonstrated twice, both times with members of the Mob: The first time was with Gambol, where, when he called Joker a "freak" in response to his remark about "a guy like me" during his speech, which Joker ended up expressing some irritation before he got to his point quickly, and the second time was with the Chechen, where Joker was angered enough at the Chechen's reference to him as such that he promptly had him ordered cut up and fed to his own dogs in response upon taking over his criminal organization. His face is covered in a cracked and runny layer of white clown makeup, with his sunken eyes thickly rimmed in black. When the film was released in July 2008, six months after Ledger died from an accidental overdose, the performance received universal acclaim and numerous posthumous accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. This changed, however, when at age 22 he started to watch some of his films. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. In order to prove his argument, Joker pointed out that if his threats were aimed at 'gangbangers' or 'soldiers', then people wouldn't really care as society trained them to see the death of such people as acceptable. While Dent was transported, the Joker and his gang attacked the caravan of police vehicles and attempted to kill Dent with a machine pistol, a shotgun, and even a rocket-propelled grenade. Batman/Bruce Wayne: And I bought most of the shares - through various charitable foundations, and trusts, and so forth. "[35] All of Ledger's scenes appear as he completed them in the filming; in editing the film, Nolan added no digital effects to alter Ledger's actual performance posthumously. At the hospital, Harvey was driven to madness over the loss of Rachel and blamed Batman, Gordon, and Joker. Warner Bros., Blu-Ray DVD. [19] The director and his leading actors all liked the idea of shooting the key scene early on. As established in Batman: The Killing Joke, the Comedian … After learning that Batman has captured Lau, Maroni and the Chechen accept the Joker's offer. [8] Impressed with Ledger's determination, Nolan cast him in the part. All of Ledger's scenes appeared as he completed them in the filming; in editing the film, Nolan added no "digital effects" to alter Ledger's actual performance posthumously. [9][28] She gave the image for the Joker of someone who is "very sweaty" and who "probably doesn't have a proper home". "And no matter how banged-up or bruised Heath was after a long day, after we'd take off the last drop of makeup, he'd just hug everybody in the trailer before he left". However, that theory was debunked on the basis that Joker's identity had no basis within any records. It's grubby. Gotham City Police Department 3.1. It was possible that the Joker himself was unaware of his true origins. Batman Quotes. The Joker, disguised as a female nurse at Gotham General Hospital. The last trait was especially evident when Joker turned on the Mob after he retrieved their money: When the Chechen angrily told him that Joker himself was a man of his word when Joker revealed that he planned to set the cash on fire, Joker confirmed that he indeed was that and made it clear that he only intended to burn the half of the money that he got from retrieving Lau. While meeting for the part of Batman in Batman Begins, Ledger explained that he was not interested in working on such a film. To prepare for the role, Ledger lived alone in a hotel room for a month, formulated the character's posture, voice, and psychology, and kept a diary, in which he recorded the Joker's thoughts and feelings to guide himself during his performance. John Caglione described Ledger as helping others around to relax, never letting "the intense nature of the roles overwhelm him". your own Pins on Pinterest Batman of the Future: Return of the Joker, sviluppato da Kemco (2000, adattamento videoludico del film d'animazione Batman of the Future: Il ritorno del Joker), regia di Curt Geda; Batman Begins, sviluppato da Eurocom (2005, adattamento videoludico del film omonimo diretto da Christopher Nolan) "[7] Casting director John Papsidera reflected on the casting choice, saying the filmmakers knew they needed somebody courageous to play the part. The Riddler? Joker also warned the Mob that Lau would betray them if he was arrested and claimed to know a squealer when he saw one. According to The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus cinematographer Nicola Pecorini, Ledger had talked with him about Johnny Depp's off-kilter portrayal of Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl in relation to The Dark Knight, aiming to make a performance that would be "so far out he'd be fired". It is a towering performance. You can almost imagine what he smells like." The physicality reminds me of the great silent comedians. Batman starts seeing billboards for the singer Johnny Charisma turn into Joker … He tricks four of them into killing each other, then kills the last one himself and escapes with the money. If you’ve always idolized Batman as your childhood hero, you’ll definitely enjoy our awesome list of Batman Quotes. On one hand, they are mortal enemies, the true definition of comic book nemeses. The character is indirectly referenced at the end of Batman Begins, when Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman) describes to Batman (Christian Bale) a suspect wanted in connection with an armed robbery and double homicide. "[31], Ledger was allowed to shoot and direct the threat videos the Joker sends out as warnings. It wasn't revealed to what degree those stories held the truth if any. The third theory that was presented was that the Joker served as a soldier or Army Private until he was sent home because he suffered from acute PTSD, which explained his cool demeanor and familiarity with weapons, as well as his devastating effectiveness in various forms of combat. With Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Ken Watanabe, Liam Neeson. Gordon then abandoned his ambush on the Joker and focused on evacuating all of Gotham's Hospitals. Before Ledger was confirmed to play the Joker in July 2006, Paul Bettany, Lachy Hulme, Adrien Brody, Steve Carell, and Robin Williams publicly expressed interest in the role. Joker then prepared to unmask Batman but Gordon, who was newly resurrected from his hoaxed death, stepped behind him, held a shotgun to his head and said: "We got you, you son of a bitch." Starting bid: £25.00 [ 0 bids] No additional import charges on delivery. MOVIE MASTERS Batman Begins Batman & The Dark Knight Joker, NEW SEALED Mattel: Condition: New. It was developed by Eurocom and published by Electronic Arts in conjunction with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Comics. The Joker is not mentioned in The Dark Knight Rises, the 2012 sequel to The Dark Knight, out of respect for Ledger's memory. In the murder tape that he sent to the Media, the Joker viciously mocked Brian Douglas (Batman Impersonator) as well as terrorized him to the point of leaving him absolutely frozen and weeping, as well as taunted his beliefs and his actions. With various incarnations in film, as well, clearly DC Comics fans can’t get enough of watch the pair fight. There is no "right order" here, as they're all disconnected and not … In addition to that, Joker was also skilled at appealing to mentally unstable people (whom he used as free help and for sections of his plans that required expendable assets) and manipulated them with promises that he would make their mental problems go away. When Joker was unable to get the guests to tell him of Dent's location, he decided to settle for killing them off. Little could be confirmed regarding his early life before he turned to a life of crime. The Joker, with his gun aimed at his head by Harvey. Rachel then confessed her love for Harvey and agreed to marry him. The Joker later met the Chechen in a container ship with Lau and was given his reward: half the Mob's smuggled money, which Joker then doused with Petrol, and set alight with the Chechen's cigar, with Lau on top of the burning money pile. During a heist at a chemical plant, gangster Jack Napier (Nicholson) falls into a vat of acid during a battle with Batman(Keaton). With the Dent Act, the insanity plea was thrown out for the most part, with felons who were predominantly imprisoned, rather than institutionalized. Finally, only "Bozo" remained, who revealed himself as the Joker to the Manager of Gotham National Bank, who had earlier confronted the robbers with a shotgun. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs. The third theory is further supported by his anecdote to Harvey Dent about how if a mayor is killed by him it causes an uproar yet barely anyone cares should he arrange for a truck containing soldiers to be blown up. Instead, the Joker was portrayed as an "absolute". Ledger also cited inspirations such as A Clockwork Orange and Sid Vicious, which were "a very early starting point for Christian Bale and I. Despite his capture, no traces could be found on Joker's fingerprints, dental records, or DNA matches against the GCPD's Databases. Unknown But as it features Mark Hamill as the Joker, I've put it together with the Batman: The animated series films and it's follow-ups as Mark Hamill also portrayed the Joker in them. When speaking with the Happy Sad Confused podcast, host Josh Horowitz specifically asked Mortensen about rumors regarding his involvement in Joker, Batman Begins, and … Obviously, Joker's extremely poor groomed appearance was linked to his nonexistent care for himself and his life. He then told people that they could leave, but that anyone who left by the tunnel or the bridge would discover a "surprise," which lead many fleeing Gotham citizens to avoid those two routes. Featured Characters: 1. Desperate, Gordon let Batman interrogate Joker for information, but Joker seemed unshaken by the pain. His videotaped speech to Gotham City that announced the Maniax after he slaughtered the GCPD, resembled Joker's first video message upon being hired by the Mob. [57] Travers praised the cast, saying each brings his or her "'A' game" to the film. Joker also seemed to have some awareness about his lacking a sense of humor, as when he arrived at the Mob summit and saw that their plan was a bad idea:"...and I thought my jokes were bad." Ledger's interpretation of the Joker is specifically influenced by the graphic novels Batman: The Killing Joke and Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth. Despite that, however, Joker had a little problem acknowledging that he was crazy upon being defeated by Batman, in-so-far as his belief in him and Batman not being much different from Gotham itself in terms of sanity (or lack thereof). In addition, largely because he couldn't resist appearing on-camera, Joker also deliberately unmasked himself in front of a surveillance camera and posed. [19], The interrogation scene between Batman and the Joker was the first scene shot with Ledger really showing the full performance altogether. Another story that Joker told was when his gambling wife told him not to worry so much and that he should smile more. Got a taste for the theatrical, like you. Each take Ledger made was different from the last. It's a very thrilling element in the film, and a very important element, but we wanted to deal with the rise of the Joker, not the origin of the Joker. Ra's Al Ghul: Gotham's time has come. Aug 24, 2015 - Discover & share this Joker GIF with everyone you know. During the mass evacuation, the Joker disguised himself as a nurse and entered the hospital room of Harvey. In in-story progression, this would be before Batman Beyond, but since it's connection to the universe is looser and debatable, unlike Batman Beyond, I place it here. The Joker appeared in public without his makeup, impersonated one of the Honor Guards, as well as had most of his gang impersonate the rest of them. Harvey and Rachel each awoke tied to chairs with barrels of explosive material that surrounded them and a speakerphone that was hooked up to the other's location. Joker also admitted that he could never kill Batman and considered him his only equal. Portrayed by: Look, it's all a bit technical, but … Batman discovered not only the Joker's location at an unfinished skyscraper, but that the majority of his "gang" were actually the people that he had kidnapped earlier, who wore clown-masks with unloaded guns that were taped to their hands, and that the people, who were dressed as hostages were the actual criminals. Joker did it often enough that his trademark was claiming that he was "a man of his word.". The Joker then escaped with the bank's cash in a yellow school bus, concealed his identity by driving within a convoy of other school buses, and also left the Bank Manager at the mercy of a gas grenade that was stuck in his mouth. The Joker will reportedly show up in Matt Reeves' The Batman, with the twist that nobody will be officially cast in the role. "But the truth is, I feel very lucky to have something productive to do, to have a performance that he was very, very proud of, and that he had entrusted to me to finish. While test recording without sound, he shared his take on the Joker's voice and physicality, and "in that way he sort of sneaked upon it".[19]. Having no connections, friends, former identities or family to be traced back to made Joker very difficult to predict, track down, or even understand. [17] He carries no identification of any kind and offers no clear details about his true name or background; when he is arrested by the Gotham City police, they find only knives and lint in his pockets. While he initially found it difficult, Ledger was eventually able to generate a voice that did not sound like Jack Nicholson's take on the character in Tim Burton's 1989 Batman film. [30], The first sequence shot was the film's IMAX opening, the "prologue". It has a bit of, "Inside. The Joker's whereabouts were never publicized, which left the possibility that he had escaped by the time of Bane's revolution: "The worst of the worst were sent to Blackgate, except for the Joker, who, rumor had it, was locked away as Arkham's sole remaining inmate. Batman (Bruce Wayne) (First appearance) (Flashback and main story) Supporting Characters: 1. "[27] Costume designer Lindy Hemming picked inspiration for the "chaotic" look from such countercultural pop culture artists as Iggy Pop, Johnny Rotten, and Sid Vicious. English, USA. Though the Joker was neither seen nor mentioned, his prediction of the citizens of Gotham was proven correct as Gotham shunned Batman in the wake of Harvey's death. It's hard to get a handle on how those elements combine. The Joker later took revenge that night and had his men come to Gambol, who then claimed to have killed the Joker. Caglione called the application work "a dance". The Joker's hair is stringy, unkempt, and dyed green. A similar display of his masochistic nature and his immunity to pain was demonstrated when Rachel Dawes, in an attempt to defend herself shortly after Joker gave his second "scar story," gave him a quick knee-jab into his groin, he laughed it off and then admitted that he "liked" the fact that she had a "little fight" in her while he approached her. The Joker then introduced Harvey to his view of the world that his time in Gotham had introduced him to, that people, or "schemers" as he called them, were the truest form of evil in the world, as it was them who laid out the plans of society, including when human lives were expendable.