Joker Won't Return in Nolan's Batman Films

Tom Goldman

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Aug 17, 2009
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Joker Won't Return in Nolan's Batman Films



Christopher Nolan has no plans to cast another actor as the Joker in future Batman films.

It shouldn't come as a surprise, but The Dark Knight [http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Begins-Blu-ray-Christian-Bale/dp/B000PC6A3E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1276200464&sr=8-1-spell] director Christopher Nolan has confirmed that the Joker won't be recast in his upcoming third Batman film. He also discussed a couple of other villains that won't be making the cut.

When asked by Empire [http://www.empireonline.com/magazine/] if the Joker, played by the late Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, would make an appearance in what we'll refer to as Batman 3 for now, Nolan "emphatically and unhesitatingly" said: "No." He understandably added that he doesn't "feel comfortable talking about it."

Nolan didn't reveal which villains Batman will go up against in Batman 3, but he did say that both Mr. Freeze and the Penguin aren't making the cut. The lack of Mr. Freeze is understandable, because despite his tragic back-story of wanting to save the woman he loves, he's still kind of just a dude that freezes stuff. The Penguin could have been a formidable opponent though, if rebooted properly. This leaves a few major known villains like the Riddler and Catwoman for Nolan to tool around with, unless he goes with characters that are less mainstream.

As for where the story of Batman 3 could go, Nolan plans to wrap it up pretty tightly. "We particularly like where we are taking the characters and what the ending is," he said. "[This film will be] the ending of a story rather than infinitely blowing up the balloon and expanding the story."

Nolan is simultaneously tackling the next Superman [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/98189-Superman-Could-Get-Dark-Knight-Treatment] movie, putting quite a lot on his plate. Batman 3 is scheduled to hit theatres on July 20, 2012.

Via: io9 [http://io9.com/5555743/nolan-will-not-bring-back-the-joker-for-batman-3]

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JokerboyJordan

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Sep 6, 2009
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Thank god he's respecting Ledger's memory here.
I personally can see The Riddler and Catwoman the most likely m'self
 

Captain Pancake

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Well, the first film kind of went along with the less well known villain thing (at least from a non comic book reader's perspective), so it wouldn't surprise me if they cast a similarly unlauded character for Batman to do battle with.
 

Pandalisk

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Jan 25, 2009
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Understandable, Joker is done now, let him rest for a time.

Still yay the penguin!, I hope he has those Penguin butlers of his.
 

Lvl 64 Klutz

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Tom Goldman said:
Batman 3 is scheduled to hit theatres on July 20, 2012.
That's a little ambitious, why not just leave it at "Summer 2012"? I'm not even getting involved in any of the "Who's the villain going to be?" discussions. Based on the first two movies, I trust it will be whoever fits best with the story that Nolan wants to tell.
 

Drakmeire

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Just get Johnny Depp to play the Riddler. or better yet, use a villain that hasn't been in any movie yet like killer croc.
 

theironbat46

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Well, let's see if they can make a good movie without the Joker. Maybe they can make a Gang War using Riddler and Black Mask.
 

Frequen-Z

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Apr 22, 2009
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I thought this was oooold news, I swear I remember reading Nolan saying he won't do Freeze or Penguin weeks if not months ago?

Considering Batman's extensive rogues gallery, eliminating the ones he's dealt with doesn't narrow it down much. I'm hoping for The Riddler, but I'd settle for Bane or Killer Croc too.
 

Julianking93

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While it's understandably so, I still had a little bit of hope for an appearance of the Joker.

I mean, he's Batman's arch rival.
 

DigitalSushi

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Clayface please Mr Nolan, with Hugo Strange just for kicks, oddly enough I see Strange as a perfect fit to Nolan's Batman universe because he's changed over the years so having him in a different guise wouldn't be so weird.
 

Truly-A-Lie

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Is Killer Croc a better character in the comics than he is in Arkham Asylum? I see quite a few people wanting him to be the villain in Batman 3 but all I've seen him in was Batman:AA and he's one of the dullest characters I've ever seen. He just goes on about eating people all the time, and that's it. He's even more boring than Batman himself in that game.
 

StarStruckStrumpets

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Drakmeire said:
Just get Johnny Depp to play the Riddler. or better yet, use a villain that hasn't been in any movie yet like killer croc.
Somehow, I believe you might be on to something there. By the end of the film I wouldn't even be able to comprehend reality without going slightly insane.

I'm glad he's leaving the Joker alone, nice way to give a "hats off" to Heath Ledger. I desperately want the Riddler, because I loved him in Batman Forever.
 

Shoggoth2588

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I'm going to keep shouting about Hush until the movie inevitably comes out and is Hush free. Isn't Hush the anti-Bat? Add in Riddler and you have an interesting concept: You have Batman hunting Hush and, Hush hunting Batman in a very Deathnote sort of way with The Riddler sitting in the shadows, pulling strings and, sending Zodiac-like letters taunting Gordon, Batman and, *gasp* Bruce Wayne?
 

Dok Zombie

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HARLEY QUINN DAMN IT!

IT'S ABOUT TIME!

I've said this before on here, but I'd love to see Harley Quinn as a troubled teenager who becomes obsessed with the celebrity-like nature of the Joker's legacy. I think it would work if she was a minor plot point in the first act, she wouldn't even need to be all that action orientated, just show her screwing up some juvenile anarchic scheme, then follow it up with seeing her in counselling or something.

Then you can spend the rest of the film developing the Riddler or whomever.
 

Trivun

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Plotwise, Harley Quinn would be a good casting choice now. We can set up a new backstory for her and have her looking for 'the Batman' to get revenge on him for the death of her beloved Joker. It could really work well, provided they set up the right backstory for her (plus, any excuse to see a hot actress play a hot character ;D).

Added to that, I'd have the Riddler in the third film, since it's the final one and the Riddler would be well placed to be brought in with a plot where he's looking to take over the vaccuum of influence over the city's criminal underworld that's been left vacant by the Joker. If we assume Nolan will stick to the traditional two main villains plus mobsters formula he's used so far, we could have that work pretty well. So far it's been:

- Scarecrow; Ras'al Ghul; Carmine Falcone.
- The Joker; Two-Face; Sal Maroni.

So we could easily add:

- Harley Quinn; The Riddler; new mob boss to replace Maroni now he's also in prison.

If handled well that could make for a great story, but it should stay at two main villains though, since adding more would just make it feel overstretched and dilute the effect of the first two. Though if they do cast the Riddler for the third film, the actor would need to be the right one, otherwise we risk losing what made Scarecrow and Joker so great in their films (and two of my favourite Batman villain portrayals to date).