Heath to Cut Out the Jokes
By NADIA BROOKS
Sun Online
THE Joker is going to be deadly serious in the new Batman movie.
Heath Ledger is taking on the role of the chuckling crook but is going to play it straighter than Jack Nicholson’s comic turn in the 1989 Batman flick.
Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight, with Christian Bale reprising the bat role, will see things "get worse before they get better" according to director Christopher Nolan.
He told Mean magazine: "I would certainly point to The Killing Joke but I also would point very much to the first two appearances of the Joker in the comic.
"If you look at where the Joker comes from there's a very clear direction that fits what we're doing very well."
The first two appearances of the character portrayed The Joker as a mass murderer and master thief who left smiling corpses in his wake.
It was only a good dozen issues down the line that the character was changed to become a more comical and less deadly buffoon.
The Killing Joke was a famous "one-of comic" in which The Joker tried to drive Commissioner Gordon insane through various ways, most notably shooting his daughter Barbara, aka Batgirl, and leaving her a paraplegic.
Christopher also said the title of The Dark Knight was key to the plot.
"The title has been chosen very specifically. It's quite important to the film," he said mysteriously.
This Nolan interview will appear in the issue of Mean Magazine which hits newsstands October 23, 2006 at your local Borders, Barnes & Noble, Tower, and Virgin Megastores.
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The Joker as he appeared in The Killing Joke comic:
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Sources: Sun Online UK
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