Joker (The Dark Knight) - Wikipedia
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| Joker | |
|---|---|
| The Dark Knight trilogy character | |
 Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight (2008) | |
| First appearance | The Dark Knight (2008) |
| Based on | Jokerby
|
| Adapted by |
|
| Portrayed by | Heath Ledger |
| In-universe information | |
| Full name | Unknown |
| Alias | The JokerAgent of Chaos |
| Occupation | CriminalTerroristAnarchist |
| Origin | Gotham City |
The Joker is a fictional character portrayed by Heath Ledger and the main antagonist of Christopher Nolan's 2008 superhero film The Dark Knight, based on the DC Comics character of the same name. He is depicted as psychopathic criminal mastermind and anarchist who embraces chaos as a philosophy, orchestrating acts of terror across Gotham City to challenge societal order and to test the moral limits of the vigilante Batman by targeting his allies, including police lieutenant James Gordon and district attorney Harvey Dent (later known as Two-Face).
Ledger's portrayal of the Joker as an embodiment of chaos and anarchy was influenced by the graphic novels Batman: The Killing Joke (1988) and Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth (1989). The character retains his traditional purple-and-green color palette, while his disfigured, clown-like appearance is achieved through smeared makeup concealing facial scars resembling a Glasgow smile, rather than the chemically bleached skin depicted in some comic book origins. Additional inspiration for the performance came from the works of painter Francis Bacon, the character Alex DeLarge from Anthony Burgess' 1962 novel A Clockwork Orange and its 1971 film adaptation of the same name, as well as elements of punk rock culture.
Although Ledger's casting was initially met with skepticism, his performance was released to widespread acclaim following the film's premiere in July 2008, six months after his death from an accidental prescription drug overdose. He posthumously received numerous accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Ledger's Joker is frequently cited as one of the greatest and most iconic villains in film history and popular culture, and is regarded as one of the most definitive screen adaptations of the character.
Concept and development
[edit]Casting
[edit]—Heath Ledger on why he preferred playing the Joker.[1]I feel like this is an opportunity for me to not take myself too seriously, and for some reason, I just gravitated towards [The Joker] and I knew I had something to give to him. And I just instantly had an idea of how to do it.
On July 31, 2006, The Dark Knight was officially announced by Warner Bros. Pictures and Heath Ledger was cast as the Joker.[2] Director Christopher Nolan had met with Ledger over the years for different roles, including the part of Batman in Batman Begins (2005). Ledger explained that he was not interested in working on superhero films: "I would just feel stupid and silly. I couldn't pull it off and there are other people who can perfectly, but I just couldn't take myself seriously".[3][4][1][5] After seeing and being impressed with Batman Begins, however, Ledger sought the part of the Joker in its sequel.[4] Nolan cast Ledger before there was a script due to his determination, stating, "Heath was just ready to do it, he was ready to do something that big."[6][3][7] Casting director John Papsidera stated that they needed somebody courageous to play the part.[8] Joaquin Phoenix, who later portrayed the Joker in Todd Phillips' 2019 film Joker and its 2024 sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, was offered the role by Nolan, but he turned it down as he "wasn't ready then".[9]
As a starting actor, Ledger did not attach himself seriously to the roles he was playing. This changed, however, when at age 22 he started to watch some of his films. Realizing that they were movies he himself might not actually have wanted to see, it made him more cautious and respectful towards his professional choices.[10] The 2005 fantasy film The Brothers Grimm marked a turning point for the actor, as director Terry Gilliam gave Ledger—and his co-star, Matt Damon—the opportunity to explore and create characters unlike any they had previously been offered.[11] 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.[10]
Performance
[edit]—Christopher Nolan on Ledger's performance.[12]"Everything about what he does from every gesture, every little facial tic, everything he's doing with his voice—it all speaks to the heart of this character. It all speaks to this idea of a character who's devoted to a concept of pure anarchy and chaos. It's hard to get a handle on how those elements combine. The physicality reminds me of the great silent comedians. It has a bit of [Buster] Keaton and [Charlie] Chaplin about it."
Highlighting the opportunity for freshness, Ledger aimed for a new and different interpretation of the character, separate from previous film incarnations.[7] Ledger and Christopher Nolan both explained seeing eye-to-eye on the Joker's appearance in the film, sharing common reference points for who the character was going to be.[7] Based on philosophical ideas of anarchy and chaos, they drew visual inspiration from the artwork of Francis Bacon. They also discussed Malcolm McDowell's performance as Alex in Stanley Kubrick's 1971 film A Clockwork Orange, as well as the character's depiction in Anthony Burgess's 1962 original novel.[3] Ledger was given Alan Moore's 1988 graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke for preparation for the role, as well as Grant Morrison's 1989 graphic novel Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, which he "really tried to read and put it down".[13] The vocal style Ledger used is rumored to be influenced by Tom Waits.[14] In an interview with MTV, Ledger said he regarded the experience playing the Joker as the most fun he ever had, "and probably will ever have".[15]
Steve Alexander, Ledger's agent, said the actor had a "pay-or-play" deal on The Dark Knight, "so he felt free to do whatever he wanted to do as the Joker, no matter how crazy." 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".[16] As Ledger was cast early in pre-production, Nolan explained that the actor had "months and months" to prepare for the role.[17]
Execution
[edit]– Scrawlings from Heath Ledger's Joker diary[18]"Inside. He's laughing red and black and red and black till there's nothing left to laugh. Until, almost tenderly, he turns inside out through his mouth."
During a span of six weeks, Heath Ledger secluded himself in a London hotel room, compiling a character diary and experimenting with voices. "It's a combination of reading all the comic books I could that were relevant to the script and then just closing my eyes and meditating on it", he said about his process.[19] The diary contains photos, news clippings, various handwritten thoughts and words, and portions of dialogue from the film. 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. Furthermore, it contains a list of things the Joker would find funny, such as AIDS, landmines, and geniuses suffering brain damage.[18] It was revealed that Ledger had read Grant Morrison's The Clown at Midnight (Batman #663) and based the list upon the Batman writer's prose.[20]
Ledger highlighted the importance of finding an iconic voice and laugh for the character, relating the voice as "the key to the demented killer".[21] 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. The filmmaker also acknowledged that the voice performance was based on the Alexander technique.[22]
Ledger developed the Joker's voice and mannerisms slowly over time and during camera tests. "Don't act, just read it", Nolan had told Ledger for a test screening. In hair and makeup tests, Ledger would start exploring the movements of the character. 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".[17]
The actor developed the physical appearance of the character, being "very involved" with the painting of his face, says prosthetic supervisor Conor O'Sullivan.[7] O'Sullivan acknowledged how Ledger, Nolan, and makeup artist John Caglione all gravitated towards a Francis Bacon painting Nolan was referring to. Ledger also got to choose the Joker's weapon among different rubber knives, and he worked closely with costume designer Lindy Hemming on deciding the look for the character.
Nolan noted, "We gave a Francis Bacon spin to [his face]. This corruption, this decay in the texture of the look itself. It's grubby. You can almost imagine what he smells like."[23] Costume designer Lindy Hemming picked inspiration for the "chaotic" look from such countercultural pop culture artists as Iggy Pop, Johnny Rotten, and Sid Vicious.[7][24] She gave the image for the Joker of someone who is "very sweaty" and who "probably doesn't have a proper home". She tried to present a backstory for the character "that he really doesn't look after himself".[7]
Application of Ledger's makeup was done with the actor scrunching special facial expressions. Caglione called the application work "a dance". This technique created facial textures for white paint. As Ledger closed his eyes tight, Caglione put on the black makeup. Then, water was sprayed over the eyes and the actor would squeeze his eyes and shake his head to create imperfections in the makeup.[25]
To get in character for filming, Ledger kept his Joker diary with him on set and frequently referred to it. Between takes, Ledger would stay in costume and makeup just being himself. The actor would fool around, skateboarding while in his Joker costume on set, and smoking cigarettes. John Caglione described Ledger as helping others around to relax, never letting "the intense nature of the roles overwhelm him".[26]
The first sequence shot was the film's IMAX opening, the "prologue". As the Joker wears a mask through the scene with minimal dialogue, Nolan set the prologue first in the schedule because he wanted to put off performance worries, allowing Ledger to enjoy that relief.[17]
The interrogation scene between Batman and the Joker was the first scene shot with Ledger really showing the full performance altogether.[17] The director and his leading actors all liked the idea of shooting the key scene early on. During rehearsals, the actors kept things loose and improvisational, saving for the actual shoot. Christian Bale, who portrayed Batman, confirmed that Ledger did not perform the Joker's voice during rehearsals, waiting to get in character when the cameras rolled.[27] Nolan later acknowledged the scene to be his favorite in the film, saying "I had never seen anybody sell a punch the way Heath was able to do with Christian."[28]
Ledger was allowed to shoot and direct the threat videos the Joker sends out as warnings. Each take Ledger made was different from the last. Nolan was impressed enough with the first video shoot that he chose not to be present when Ledger filmed the scene with a kidnapped reporter portrayed by Anthony Michael Hall.[29]
Ledger always showed up early on set. The first thing he would do, according to Caglione, was to give bear hugs to cast and crew members around the set. "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".[30] At the end of shooting, on his Joker diary's final page, Ledger wrote "BYE BYE".[31]
Effects of Heath Ledger's death
[edit]On January 22, 2008, after he had completed filming The Dark Knight, Ledger died, aged 28, of an accidental prescription drug overdose, leading to intense press attention and memorial tributes. "It was tremendously emotional, right when he passed, having to go back in and look at him every day [during editing]", Nolan recalled. "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".[32] 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.[33] Nolan dedicated the film in part to Ledger's memory.[34][35]
Ledger's death affected the marketing campaign for The Dark Knight[36] and both the production and marketing of Terry Gilliam's 2009 fantasy film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus; both Nolan and Gilliam celebrated and paid tribute to Ledger's work in these films.[32][36][37][38] During production of The Dark Knight, Michael Jai White's Gambol was meant to survive his confrontation with Ledger's Joker, which would have resulted in the Joker giving Gambol a Glasgow smile of his own and enabling the filmmakers to reuse Gambol in the future,[39] with White commenting that Gambol was supposed to have a bigger role in further sequels, returning to Gotham City and trying to take it over.[40] After Ledger's passing, Nolan cut Gambol's later scenes and edited the confrontation to suggest but not actually show his death, something White did not find out until seeing the premiere.[39]
Writer David S. Goyer's original intent for the Batman Begins sequels in 2005 involved the Joker being apprehended by Batman with the aid of Commissioner Gordon and Harvey Dent in the second film and the Joker scarring Dent during his trial in the third film.[41] However, most aspects of Goyer's film treatments were absorbed into The Dark Knight.[42] According to Ledger's sister Kate, Ledger was planning to reprise his role as the Joker for another film,[43] a notion supported by Aaron Eckhart, who portrayed Harvey Dent, and recalled that Ledger had planned to return in a sequel.[44] Nolan ultimately decided that the Joker would not return in The Dark Knight Rises and dispelled rumors that he would use unused footage from The Dark Knight to bring Ledger back.[45]
Characterization
[edit]Ledger described the Joker as a "psychopathic, mass murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy".[46] He embodies themes of chaos, anarchy and obsession, expressing a desire to upset Gotham's social order through crime and his conflict with Batman. After their first fight, Batman struggles to understand exactly what the Joker's motivations are. Alfred suggests that he might be motivated solely by the thrill of the crime, commenting "Some men just want to watch the world burn."
The Joker's hair is stringy, unkempt, and dyed green. His face is covered by a cracked, smeared and runny layer of white clown makeup, while his sunken eyes are thickly rimmed in black and his teeth are yellowed.[47] A red grin is sloppily painted across his mouth and cheeks, covering the facial scars of a Glasgow smile.[27] Wearing the character's traditional color palette from the comics, the Joker is dressed in a light purple shirt with a thin medium-toned purple tie and a green waistcoat, topped by a dark purple overcoat; he also wears purple pants and leather gloves, the former marked with pinstripes. The film reveals that his clothing is custom-made, with no labels. The patterns and designs chosen were popular during the Victorian and Edwardian periods; however, they are given an eccentric twist with the purple and green color palette. The Joker's shoes have an upward swoop at the toe, reminiscent of clown shoes.[27]
The Joker carries no identification of any kind, and offers no clear details about his true name or background. He tells two different stories of how he got his scars, saying first that his abusive father mutilated his face during a domestic dispute, and later that he disfigured himself to console his wife after a loan shark inflicted similar injuries on her. When he is arrested by the Gotham City police, they find only knives and lint in his pockets.
The character's mannerisms carry a quality of unpredictability. 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. Nolan acknowledges this unpredictability to be part of the character's slinky physical movements as well, saying that Ledger's performance is "always a surprise".[17] About the Joker's physical appearance, Geoff Boucher wrote for the Los Angeles Times that the character probes the facial scars with his tongue and "walks with shoulders bowed and his chin out and down, like a hyena".[48]
Fictional character biography
[edit]Identity
[edit]In The Dark Knight trilogy, the Joker's true identity and origins remain unknown. Despite being captured twice, the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD) found no matches for his fingerprints, dental records, or DNA, and Lieutenant James "Jim" Gordon confirmed that no name or alias could be verified. The Joker offered multiple, contradictory accounts of how he received his Glasgow smile, including stories involving an alcoholic and abusive father and a disfigured wife, though the truth of these claims was never established. Psychological speculation suggested he may have fabricated or believed varying personal histories, reinforcing his enigmatic nature.
A GCPD report proposed several unverified theories regarding his background: that he was a former inmate of Arkham Asylum released during the chaos caused by Ra's al Ghul and the Scarecrow; that he had ties to the Haley Brothers Circus, explaining his clown motif; or that he was a discharged soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, accounting for his combat proficiency and strategic mindset. None of these theories were substantiated, leaving the Joker's past deliberately ambiguous.
Emergence in Batman Begins
[edit] Further information: Batman Begins § PlotAt the end of Batman Begins (2005), following the death of Ra's al Ghul, Batman discussed with Police Lieutenant James Gordon the effect that Batman had made on Gotham City since his appearance. 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."
Bank heist and the Mob
[edit] Further information: The Dark KnightIn the opening of The Dark Knight (2008), the Joker orchestrates a meticulously planned robbery of the mafia-owned Gotham National Bank, a money-laundering front for the city's crime families. Engineering a chain of betrayals among his accomplices, he ensures that each robber eliminates another until only "Bozo" remains—who then reveals himself to be the Joker—before escaping with the mob's money concealed in a school bus convoy.
Following the heist, the Joker interrupts a meeting of Gotham's famous crime bosses, including Sal Maroni, Gambol, and the Chechen. Demonstrating his unpredictability and brutality, he kills Gambol's henchman with a pencil and offers to eliminate Batman for half of the mob's funds. Though initially dismissed, he warns them of a corrupt Chinese accountant Lau's potential betrayal and reveals grenades hidden beneath his coat as leverage. After Gambol places a bounty on him, the Joker retaliates by murdering Gambol and coercing his remaining men into fighting to the death for a place in his gang, solidifying his control over Gotham's criminal underworld and establishing himself as a chaotic force beyond the mob's authority.
Conflict with Batman
[edit]After Batman retrieves Lau from Hong Kong and secures his agreement to testify against the mob, Sau Maroni and the Chechen reluctantly hire the Joker to kill Batman. The Joker kidnaps a Batman impersonator, murders him, and broadcasts a video in which he issues an ultimatum: unless Batman unmasks and surrenders, he will kill innocent people each day. When Batman refuses, the Joker carries out his threat by orchestrating the deaths of Judge Janet Surillo and Police Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb.
The Joker and his gang later storm a fundraiser at Bruce Wayne's penthouse, taking Detective Michael Wuertz hostage in an attempt to locate and kill Harvey Dent, Gotham City's newly elected district attorney and a prominent public figure leading the legal crusade against organized crime. When no one reveals Dent's whereabouts, the Joker threatens the guests until Rachel Dawes intervenes, prompting Batman to confront him. The Joker escapes by throwing Rachel out a window, forcing Batman to save her.
The murders of Judge Surillo and Commissioner Loeb continue as the Joker targets public officials, including an attempt on Mayor Anthony Garcia during Loeb's memorial. Disguised without makeup as an honor guard, he orchestrates a trap involving a sniper rifle and hidden gunmen, resulting in an apparent fatal shooting of Gordon while he protects the Mayor. To stop the killings, Batman plans to reveal himself, but Dent unexpectedly claims to be Batman and is arrested instead.
While Dent was being transported, the Joker and his gang ambushed the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD) convoy, using heavy weapons—including a machine pistol, shotgun, and rocket-propelled grenade—to kill him. They destroyed most of the police vehicles, but when the Joker targeted Dent's armored car, Batman intervened, sacrificing the Batmobile and deploying the Batpod to stop the attack.
Realizing Dent was not Batman, the Joker redirected his assault toward the Batpod, but Batman evaded him and used his cable launchers to overturn the Joker’s eighteen-wheeler. The Joker provoked Batman into killing him, but Batman refused and crashed his Batpod instead. As the Joker attempted to unmask him, Gordon—who had faked his death—reappeared and held a shotgun to his head, leading to the Joker's arrest and imprisonment at the GCPD. Gordon was subsequently promoted to commissioner by the Mayor, while the Joker sarcastically applauded the newly appointed commissioner.
Assault on Gotham
[edit]With the Joker in custody at the GCPD, Commissioner Gordon and Batman initially believed his reign of terror was over, but panic arose when Dent was reported missing. In desperation, Gordon allowed Batman to interrogate the Joker. Unfazed by the violence, the Joker instead taunted Batman, explaining his belief that people are inherently selfish and only need pressure to descend into chaos. He also claimed he would never kill Batman, viewing him as his equal.
The Joker revealed that Dent's abduction was a test, forcing Batman to choose between saving Dent or Rachel, knowing Batman cared deeply for her. Under pressure, the Joker provided their locations—but deliberately switched the addresses, anticipating that Batman would choose Rachel. As a result, Batman rescued Dent instead, while Rachel was killed.
Meanwhile, after most officers had left the station, the Joker enacted his escape plan. He detonated a phone-triggered bomb surgically planted inside a detainee, creating chaos within the GCPD and enabling his escape, taking Lau with him. Gordon later realized the Joker had orchestrated his own capture to retrieve Lau and further his larger scheme.
Dent 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. Rachel then confessed her love for Dent and agreed to marry him. Debts fell on the floor and his left side was then completely immersed in turpentine.
Batman arrived, but found Harvey instead of Rachel. Batman then realized that the Joker had lied about Rachel and Dent's whereabouts in order to further crush Batman's morale. Batman then rescued Harvey as the building exploded, disfiguring half of his face. Unfortunately, Gordon was unable to get to Rachel before the explosion, and she was killed. At the hospital, Dent was driven to madness by grief, and blamed Batman, Gordon, and the Joker.
The Joker later met the Chechen aboard a container ship alongside Lau and was granted his reward: half of the Gotham City mob's smuggled money. Rejecting it, the Joker doused the cash in gasoline and ignited it with the Chechen's cigar, burning the fortune with Lau left atop the pile. He then betrayed the Chechen and assumed control of his men.
Declaring that Gotham deserved a "better class of criminal", the Joker asserted that he was not motivated by money or power, but by chaos itself—echoing Alfred Pennyworth's earlier warning to Bruce Wayne that some men "just want to watch the world burn". When the Chechen denounced him as a "freak" and refused to participate further, the Joker ordered him killed, demonstrating his ruthlessness and reinforcing his message that his actions were not about profit, but about proving that "everything burns".
The Joker then made a call to a news program where Coleman Reese threatened to go public on the news with information about Batman's identity. Reese was interrupted by the Joker who then stated that he had changed his mind and believed that Gotham would to be too boring without Batman. To in order to "give others the fun", the Joker then threatened that if someone didn't kill Reese in sixty minutes, he would blow up a hospital. Gordon then abandoned his ambush on the Joker and focused on evacuating all of Gotham's hospitals.
Contact with Harvey Dent
[edit]During the mass evacuation of Gotham General Hospital, the Joker disguised himself as a nurse and entered Dent's hospital room. Feigning sympathy, he apologized and denied responsibility for Rachel's death. Dent saw through the act and tried to attack him, but the Joker restrained him and began outlining his philosophy of chaos and anarchy. He argued that true evil lay not in chaos, but in "schemers"—those who create society's rules and decide when lives are expendable. To illustrate his point, he claimed that threats against criminals or soldiers would not alarm the public because society deems their deaths acceptable. Exploiting Dent's grief and anger, the Joker redirected his fury toward those he labeled as schemers: the corrupt police officers who kidnapped him and Rachel, as well as Batman and Gordon, whom he implied had treated Rachel's life as expendable.
After handing Dent a revolver, the Joker urged him to abandon the law that had failed him and embrace chaos, which he claimed was the only truly fair system—where fate is decided purely by chance rather than by flawed human rules. Dent flipped his coin to determine the Joker's fate, symbolically giving him the same chance Rachel had, though the Joker's finger on the hammer ensured the gun could not fire.
Shortly after Dent departed, the Joker detonated Gotham General Hospital and walked away disguised as a nurse. When part of the explosives failed to ignite, he casually triggered the detonator again, destroying the remaining sections of the hospital. He and his men then commandeered an evacuation bus and kidnapped a television reporter and her crew as part of his escalating campaign of chaos in Gotham City.
The ferries and arrest
[edit]The Joker publicly announced that Gotham City would belong to him by the end of the night. 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.
As a result, two ferries departed from the harbor: one carrying civilians and the other transporting prisoners. However, before their departure, the Joker had arranged for both boats to be loaded with explosives, and provided with the detonator to the bombs on their counterpart's ferry, at which point he hijacked the ferries' PA system and explained the rules of what he referred to as a "social experiment": if neither ferry chose to detonate the other by midnight, he would destroy both. He also threatened to blow them up immediately if anyone attempted to escape, ensuring that everyone on board was forced to confront the moral dilemma he had engineered.
Batman traced the Joker to an unfinished skyscraper construction site, where he uncovered another deception: the apparent hostages were actually the Joker's men, while the real captives had been disguised as clowns with unloaded guns taped to their hands. Forced to intervene, Batman fought both the Joker's henchmen and incoming SWAT teams to prevent them from killing the true hostages. He ultimately confronted the Joker, who mockingly expressed delight that Batman had arrived, and the two engaged in a brutal final battle. Armed with a metal bar and knife, and aided by Rottweilers that once belonged to the Chechen, the Joker briefly gained the upper hand, even impairing Batman's vision and pinning him beneath scaffolding. As midnight approached, the Joker eagerly awaited the destruction of the ferries, but was visibly disappointed when neither group chose to detonate the other: the civilians voted to act but could not follow through, while a prisoner stepped forward and threw the detonator out the window.
With the deadline passed, Batman told the Joker that he had failed to prove that everyone was as corrupt as he was. When the Joker attempted to trigger the explosives himself, Batman disarmed him using his wrist blades and hurled him from the building—remarking that he knew how he got his Glasgow smile. Refusing to let him die, however, Batman used his Grapple Gun to catch him, leaving the Joker suspended upside down for the GCPD to arrest, laughing maniacally even in defeat.
With that act, the Joker concedes that Batman is truly incorruptible, but that Harvey is no longer Gotham's "White Knight", having unleashed the scarred man upon the city. He refers to Dent as his "ace in the hole" in a broader scheme to prove that everyone is ultimately corruptible, thereby undoing Dent's legacy prior to his transformation into Two-Face. Batman then leaves the Joker hanging helplessly as he continues to laugh, before he is apprehended at gunpoint by the arriving SWAT team.
Absence in The Dark Knight Rises
[edit] Further information: The Dark Knight RisesThe Joker is not mentioned in The Dark Knight Rises (2012) as Christopher Nolan felt it was "inappropriate" to acknowledge "a real-life tragedy" in referencing Heath Ledger's death.[49] However, the film novelization by Greg Cox makes reference to the character while describing Blackgate Prison:
Now that the Dent Act had made it all but impossible to cop an insanity plea, it had replaced Arkham Asylum as the preferred location for imprisoning both convicted and suspected felons. The worst of the worst were sent here, except for the Joker, who, rumor had it, was locked away as Arkham's sole remaining inmate. Or perhaps he had escaped. Nobody was really sure. Not even Selina.[50][51]
Reception
[edit]Announcement and early response
[edit]The casting decision surprised some[52] and was seen as a controversial move at the time,[53] receiving notable negative reactions on the Internet.[54][55] Nolan remembered the cynicism he endured surrounding Ledger's casting, saying that "the whole world turned around and said 'What are you doing?' You know, Heath Ledger, Joker, didn't make any sense to people at all."[3] In his 2016 book The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture, NPR contributor Glen Weldon recalled that fans were outraged over the choice of Ledger, due to his past roles in films such as Brokeback Mountain (2005).[56]
However, with the first trailer released in 2007, the film and its portrayal of the Joker received very positive response from audiences and entertainment industry professionals alike. Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro gushed of his impression for Ledger's performance, finding it "really, really edgy and scary". DC Comics writers Paul Dini and Jeph Loeb both chimed with the positive reactions. Loeb, who had been critical of Jack Nicholson's portrayal of the Joker in Tim Burton's 1989 film Batman, expressed his excitement for Ledger's interpretation, saying the casting felt "just about right. I eagerly anticipate more!"[57]
Critical reception
[edit]—Richard Corliss, Time[58]"Heath Ledger is magnificent. The Joker, incarnated with chilling authority by the actor, is simply one of the most twisted and mesmerizing creeps in movie history."
Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker received universal acclaim, winning numerous posthumous awards for his performance, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor,[59] a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture,[60] the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role,[61] the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor,[62] a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role,[63] and a Best Actor International Award at the 2008 Australian Film Institute Awards.[64]
"I can only speak superlatives of Ledger, who is mad-crazy-brilliant as the Joker", wrote Peter Travers of Rolling Stone, stating that the film is deeper than its predecessor, with a "deft" script that refuses to scrutinize the Joker with popular psychology.[65] Travers praised the cast, saying each brings their "'A' game" to the film.[65] Travers said Ledger moves the Joker away from Jack Nicholson's interpretation into darker territory, and expressed his support for any potential campaign to have Ledger nominated for an Academy Award.[65] 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.[66]
Mark Dinning of Empire magazine called Ledger's performance "monumental" and wrote "The Dark Knight is Ledger's movie. It is a towering performance. ... A force of nature".[67] Kevin Smith commented on Ledger, calling his "incredible" performance among "the most frightening, smart and well-played villains ever. Ever."[68] Mark Lee, writing for The Daily Telegraph, commented that Ledger accomplished "a genuinely unsettling, brilliant nuanced portrait of evil". Tim Teeman commented for The Times that "Ledger is so terrifying and unpredictable that his very presence on screen makes you nervous." Total Film reviewed that Ledger is "burning brightly as he embodies an icon. ... This is the definitive Joker", calling the performance "a masterpiece". For The Hollywood Reporter, Kirk Honeycutt called Ledger's performance "a beauty".[69] Entertainment Weekly put the film on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Every great hero needs a great villain. And in 2008, Christian Bale's Batman found his in Heath Ledger's demented dervish, the Joker."[70] Emanuel Levy wrote Ledger "throws himself completely" into the role.[71] David Denby of The New Yorker, otherwise critical of the film, praised Ledger's "sinister and frightening" performance, which he says is the film's one element of success. Denby called Ledger "mesmerising" and said, "His performance is a heroic, unsettling final act: this young actor looked into the abyss."[72] "It's just one of the most iconic movie performances of modern times", declared chief film critic of Variety Scott Foundas.[8] In 2009, Total Film issued its "The 150 Greatest Performances of All Time" list, ranking Ledgers' performance in The Dark Knight at 105th place.[73]
Film critics, co-stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and Michael Caine, and many of Ledger's colleagues in the film community joined Christian Bale in calling for and predicting that he would receive a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Dark Knight. At the 81st Academy Awards, honoring films of 2008, Ledger posthumously received and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.[74]
Legacy
[edit]In 2022, Clayton Davis of Variety ranked Ledger's portrayal as the Joker the best superhero movie performance in the past 50 years.[75] Actors who have cited Ledger's performance as an inspiration for pursuing a career in acting include Timothée Chalamet[76] and Jacob Elordi.[77]
Ledger's Joker is referenced in The Office episode "Employee Transfer", in which Dwight Schrute, Creed Bratton, and Kevin Malone all dress up as the character for Halloween.[78]
Influence on other characters
[edit]Bérénice Marlohe cited Ledger's performance as the Joker as an inspiration for her portrayal of Sévérine in the James Bond film Skyfall, specifically in regards to Sévérine's psychological instability, which Marlohe added to her performance in a subtle way, as the script didn't make the Bond girl's "craziness" obvious.[79]
Seth Gabel was pitched to play Count Vertigo in Arrow as a character inspired by Ledger's Joker, which he felt incredibly intimidating for him initially, so to avoid being redundant, Gabel tried to find his own version of the level of freedon Ledger's Joker had, an intimate relationship to violence and psychosis of his own.[80] Iwan Rheon admitted to have used Ledger's Joker as a reference for his performance as Ramsay Bolton in Game of Thrones.[81]
In regards to Jesse Eisenberg's performance as Lex Luthor in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Ben Affleck compared Eisenberg's Luthor to Ledger's Joker, feeling that Luthor was the best character in the film due to being grounded to reality and that Eisenberg improved all of his scenes to the point of creating a "whole psychology" for Luthor instead of portraying him as a "one-dimensional" villain.[82]
On playing N'Jadaka / Erik "Killmonger" Stevens in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Black Panther, Michael B. Jordan expressed his admiration for both Ledger's Joker performance, feeling that Ledger's portrayal, as well as Michael Fassbender's Magneto, motivated an actor to deliver an awesome performance as a comic book movie villain.[83]
Discussing his forthcoming portrayal as Kang the Conqueror in the MCU film Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania in anticipation of his further appearances as the character in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars, fellow Marvel actor Jonathan Majors named Ledger's Joker as one of his inspirations to play Kang, having admired his Joker version for how far Ledger was willing to physically go during filming of The Dark Knight and for his character's complexity of good and evil, the latter deeply connecting with Majors due to growing up with a few criminals who displayed moral duality from time to time.[84]
To play the Tracker in John Wick: Chapter 4, Shamier Anderson looked at and studied Ledger's Joker due to both characters similarly lacking a backstory, wondering himself on how his character ended up the person he is in the film and even having his character's notebook taken home to write on it or engraving his name in several of the character's items, crediting that for the positive response the Tracker has received from the John Wick fans.[85]
Ledger's Dark Knight co-star David Dastmalchian revealed that in order to play Jack Delroy in Late Night with the Devil, the Cairnes brothers sent him footage of Don Lane, reminding him of the interview he had with Tom Waits that inspired Ledger's Joker, finding pretty cool the likelihood of shared inspiration.[86]
In the final scene of Joker: Folie à Deux (2024), directed by Todd Phillips, the character Arthur Fleck, portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix, is fatally stabbed by a young inmate at Arkham State Hospital, portrayed by Connor Storrie. As Arthur lies dying, the inmate is seen in the background carving a Glasgow smile into his own face with a shank. The ending was met with widespread negative reactions, as many critics and viewers rejected the idea that Storrie's character represents the "real" Joker. However, Phillips has clearly stated that this film series does not exist within the same universe as Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy, or any other media.[87][88][89]
On designing the werewolf character Dan Kiel in his 2025 supernatural horror film film Wolf Man, Leigh Whannell said that despite all werewolf designs across cinema, his biggest inspiration was Ledger's Joker due to staying true to the original character but taking it to another level, so he did that but creating his own version of a werewolf with makeup artist Arjen Tuiten.[90]
See also
[edit]- Joker in other media
- Joker (Jack Napier)
- Barack Obama "Joker" poster
- Georgia Joker
References
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Tag » How Did The Joker Die
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His Death Affected The Subsequent Promotion Of The Dark Knight. His Performance As The Joker In The Dark Knight Earned Him Universal Acclaim And Popularity From Fans And Critics Alike. ...
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How Does The Joker Die In The Original DC Comic? - Quora
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Heath Ledger Died Due To Depression After Playing Joker In The ...
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How Did Heath Ledger Die? | The Sun
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The Many Deaths Of The Joker | Den Of Geek
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10 Times The Joker Has Died Onscreen - Game Rant
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The Real Story Of Heath Ledger's 'physically And Mentally Draining ...
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Every Time The Joker Died In The Comics - Looper
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10 Shocking Times The Joker Died - YouTube
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The Joker Actually Died In DC's First Batman Comic - Screen Rant
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Joker Ending Explained: What Happened At The End Of Joker? - IGN
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What Killed Heath Ledger - CNN
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Joker Death Scene (Joker Dies) - Batman Arkham City - YouTube
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Joker (The Dark Knight) | Batman Wiki - Fandom