Dark Knight Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Joker
Joker
In-Universe Information
Real Name Unknown
Aliases The Joker[1]
Bozo[1]
The Clown[1]
Joe Ondrejko[1]
Matilda Hemming[1]
Species Human
Gender Male
Date of Birth Unknown
Date of Death N/A
Affiliation Joker's Gang
Status Unknown
Behind the Scenes
Portrayed by Heath Ledger
Appearances Batman Begins (mentioned)
The Dark Knight
"Don't talk like one of them. You're not. Even if you'd like to be. To them, you're just a freak... like me. They need you right now... but when they don't, they'll cast you out like a leper. You see, their morals, their code... it's a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you. When the chips are down, these-- these civilized people... they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve."
―Joker[src]

The Joker is a psychopathic illegalist criminal mastermind, mass murderer and agent of chaos with a warped, sadistic sense of humor. He expressed desire to upset social order through crime. He was hired by Gotham City's mob bosses to kill the Batman, drawing him ever closer to crossing the line between heroism and vigilantism. He induced chaos and anarchy in Gotham, and ultimately revealed his plan to be corrupting the city's symbol of hope and true hero, Harvey Dent.[1]

Biography[]

Early Life[]

"What do we got?"
"Nothing. No matches on prints, DNA, dental. Clothing is custom, no labels. Nothing in his pockets but knives and lint. No name. No other alias."
Anthony Garcia and James Gordon[src]

The Joker's life before he became a criminal is unknown. He has provided multiple stories for the reason behind his scars.

The first story behind his scars is about his father, who he recalled to be an alcoholic fiend who, one night went off "crazier than usual," leading his mother to use a kitchen knife to defend herself. His father did not like that. He watched his father laugh as he took the knife to his mother, who then turned to him and asked "why so serious?" In response, his father came at him with the knife, stuck the blade in his mouth and carved a smile on his face. His body language indicated he was remembering and reliving the event, implying some truth to the story.[2] When he met a Wayne Enterprises board member who reminded him of his father, the Joker mentioned that he hated his father, implying more truth to the story.

The second story behind his scars is about his beautiful wife, who told him that he worried too much and ought to smile more. However, his wife gambled and "[got] in deep" with loan sharks. One day, they carved her face, but they could not afford surgery. She could not take it, and he just wanted to see her smile again because did not care about the scars. In response, he used a razor to carve a smile on his face, but she left him because she could not stand the sight of him.

It has been speculated that the Joker is a heavily traumatized veteran of the War on Terror, hence his "truckload of soldiers" line and his skill with various weaponry. He also recited "all the old familiar places" from the World War II song, "I'll Be Seeing You." It has also been speculated that the he told varying stories about how he acquired his scars as ways to disassociate himself from the trauma, as well as display his penchant for joking.

A Better Class of Criminal[]

Escalation[]

"Now, take this guy. Armed robbery, double homicide, has a taste for the theatrical, like you. Leaves a calling card."
James Gordon to Batman[src]

The man became a criminal who once committed an armed robbery and a double homicide, becoming known for his theatricality like the vigilante, the Batman. He left a calling card at the crime scene, a joker card, which was recovered by Lieutenant James Gordon and presented to the Batman. Nine months later, he stole a shipment of ammonium nitrate from the Gotham City docks.

Robbery of Gotham National Bank[]

The Joker was part of a six-member gang wearing clown masks who robbed Gotham National Bank, a mob-owned bank. He tricked four of them into killing each other, then killed the bus driver himself and escaped with 68 million dollars.

Proposal to the Mob[]

The Joker later interrupted a videoconference between mob bosses Sal Maroni, the Chechen and Gambol with their accountant, Lau. He offered to kill the Batman for half of their money. Gambol refused his offer and put a bounty on the Joker, but he later faked his death to kill Gambol and take over his gang. Afterwards, Maroni and the Chechen accepted his offer.

Hunting the Batman[]

After killing Brian Douglas, a copycat of Batman, the Joker announced that more people would die each day until the Batman revealed his true identity, and made good on his threat by assassinating Gotham Police Commissioner Gillian Loeb and mob trial Judge Janet Surillo. He and Thomas Schiff also targeted Mayor Anthony Garcia, but Gordon seemingly sacrifices himself to stop the assassination. When Harvey Dent attempted to draw him out by identifying himself as the Batman, the Joker tried to kidnap him by attacking his convoy, only to be arrested by Gordon.

Arrest and Escape[]

The Joker was interrogated by the Batman after Dent went missing. During his interrogation, he revealed that Dent's girlfriend Rachel Dawes had also gone missing and divulged their separate locations, both rigged with time bombs, but lied about which location each hostage was held at. The Batman saved Dent, who was disfigured in the explosion, while Rachel was killed. The Joker then escaped the police station with Lau after manipulating Gerard Stephens into attacking him so he could use his phone call to detonate a bomb and explode Lau's holding cell.

Sending a Message[]

The Joker burned his half of the mob's money and proceeded to kill Lau and the Chechen, taking over the latter's gang.

Pushing Dent[]

To prevent Wayne Enterprises M&A law accountant Coleman Reese from revealing the Batman's secret identity on TV, the Joker announced that he would blow up a hospital if Reese was not dead within the hour. During the ensuing panic, the Joker infiltrated Gotham General Hospital disguised as a nurse to meet with Dent and persuaded him to take revenge on the people he held responsible for Rachel's death. He gave Dent a revolver and forcibly held it to his own head, allowing his fate to be decided by a coin flip. Spared by chance, he then blew up the hospital and took a busload of hostages.

Social Experiment[]

The Joker rigged explosives (diesel fuel and the ammonium nitrate he previously stole) on two ferries leaving the Gotham bay, one containing citizens and the other transporting criminals, and told the passengers that he would destroy both boats unless one blew up the other by midnight. While the Batman fought the Joker, the ferry passengers chose not to blow each other up, and the Batman bluntly informed the Joker that, despite his attempt to prove "that deep down, everyone's as ugly as [him]", the Joker was alone in his corruption and insanity. Batman subsequently apprehends the Joker, who stated that he believes that they are meant to fight each other forever. The Joker gloated that he had won "the battle for Gotham's soul," as the city's inhabitants would lose hope once Dent's rampage as the murderous vigilante "Two-Face" became known. The Joker then laughs hysterically as he was arrested by a SWAT team. The Batman ultimately foiled the Joker's plan by taking the blame for Dent's crimes.

Imprisonment[]

The Batman told the Joker that he would be in a padded cell forever. The Dent Act had made it all but impossible to cop an insanity plea, so Blackgate Prison 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.

Personality[]

"Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn."
Alfred Pennyworth to Bruce Wayne[src]

The Joker is a psychopathic, mass murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy.[3] He is a self-proclaimed agent of chaos who just wants to watch the world burn.

He sought to show the people of Gotham that, underneath the façade of an orderly society is existential anarchy. He is a nihilist, as he gave a meaningless answer when the bank manager asked what he believed in. He makes jokes because everything is trivial. His terrorist acts tried to prove that morality is a sham, because when humans are deprived of their physical comforts and safety, they turn into wild animals. He exploited the innate, base lawlessness of humanity, describing their "code" as "a bad joke," such as when he had his bank robbers kill each other in order to reduce shares, when he had "tryouts" for Gambol's men to join his team by killing each other and the winner would gain membership, when he threatened to blow up hospitals if people did not kill Coleman Reese (which caused citizens to attempt murder and police officers to become corrupted), or when he executed his philosophically-tinged dual boat scheme, in which a boat of convicts and a boat of regular Gotham citizens hold each other's lives in their hands. The Joker even corrupted Harvey Dent, infecting him with his vision of a reality ruled only by cosmic anarchy.

He also told Dent about the futility of planning ahead and mankind's illogical need to have a set course, so much so that even the most horrific acts would be forgiven if they were deemed "part of the plan."

The Joker was known for his sick, morbid sense of humor, as he found several tragedies to be funny, such as AIDS, landmines, and geniuses with brain damage.[4]

The Joker's body language is also revealing of details about his personality. When he interrupted the mob's meeting, no one initially viewed him as a threat, but he impressed the Chechen and gained his respect by killing one of Gambol's henchmen. He even wanted to hear the Joker's proposition, as he was interested, and did not laugh when the Joker suggested killing the Batman nor when he said he wanted half of their money, as he had faith in the Joker and admired his confidence. He was offended when he was called "a freak" and "crazy."[5]

Abilities[]

"It's not that simple. With the Joker, it never is."
Batman[src]
  • Genius-Level Intelligence: Though the Joker seemed like a madman who only wants to create chaos, his high intelligence is quite clear.
    • Master Tactician: The Joker was a criminal mastermind and was always one step ahead of everyone else, as seen during his heist at Gotham National Bank, where he tricked a gang of criminals into murdering each other for a higher share until only he remained. During the robbery he also tricked the bank manger into using his last shotgun pellet. Although he claimed to not be "a guy with a plan" and admitted to not being a schemer, instead being someone who tried to show the schemers how "pathetic" their attempts to control things really are, he did also say that he took Harvey Dent's plan and turned it on itself, which he stated to being what he does best. As such, the Joker was able to get to Gotham's most powerful citizens and turn the whole city upside down with a few nefarious schemes. He also outsmarted the police, the mob, and the Batman on separate occasions while planning a larger scheme to corrupt Dent, which actually ended up working; he convinced him to seek revenge for Rachel's death by going on a killing spree, deciding the fates of people he held responsible for Rachel's death because the Joker knew Gotham's citizens would lose hope once Dent's rampage became public knowledge. He was rarely been seen as a physically intimidating villain, but his power instead came from the chaos he could inflict. Even as an outsider to the mob, he was able to rise up as one of the most prolific criminals in Gotham City. As he said himself, he was able to bring Gotham to its knees with a few drums of gasoline and some bullets. Not only was he destructive, but he also knows how to cripple his enemies in ways they do not see coming, such as when he manipulated Gerard Stephens into attacking him. He was a truly relentless force of nature. The Joker had a tendency of misleading his victims: had the ferry passengers triggered the detonator, they would have blown themselves up rather than the adjacent ferry.
    • Expert Thief: The Joker stole a large shipment of ammonium nitrate off the docks and smiled into the surveillance camera.[6] He and five other men robbed Gotham National Bank of $68,000,000.[1]
"If it's so simple, why haven't you done it already?"
"If you're good at something, never do it for free."
Sal Maroni and the Joker[src]
  • Expert Marksman: The Joker was proficient with various firearms, despite preferring to use knives. He could use pistols, revolvers, shotguns, submachine guns and rocket launchers. He shot the bank manager and the bus driver with his sidearm, killing the latter without even looking at him, shot out a window at a fundraiser, again without looking, and also shot and killed an officer at an intersection and Officer Jeremy Polk. He shot a cop car with his bazooka.
  • Skilled Combatant: The Joker was a skilled fighter to a certain degree. He easily overpowered one of Gambol's henchmen, slamming his head into a pencil. At Harvey Dent's fundraiser, he briefly fought against the Batman. He also gained the upper hand on Detective Stephens, despite the latter having been on the force for two decades. He later beat the Batman with a pipe.
    • Knife Mastery: Joker's preferred weapon was a knife. He carried several at a time, including a vegetable peeler. He killed two of Gambol's men at once when he stabbed them while rising from the "dead," and he used one to slice Gambol's mouth, killing him. He also attacked the Batman with his shoe blade. He improvised a pencil by jamming it into a mobster's eye, and used a shard of glass to gain the upper hand on Detective Stephens.
  • Intimidation: The Joker was shown to murder just about anyone he comes across for no reason. He is a terrifying agent of chaos who seems gleeful at how many innocent lives he has taken and acted as a terrorist within Gotham, almost bringing the whole city to its knees. The horror he inflicted was merely entertainment for him. The Joker'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.
"You have nothing, nothing to threaten me with! Nothing to do with all your strength!"
―Joker to Batman[src]
  • High Pain Tolerance: The Joker had a high threshold for pain. After the Batman slammed his head into a table, he was unfazed when the vigilante proceeded to hit his hand. He smiled when he beat him during the interrogation.
  • Indomitable Will: The Joker was devoted to a concept of pure anarchy and chaos. He was fully committed to his goal of convincing the people of Gotham City that they will toss aside their ideals if the circumstances make doing so convenient. The Joker truly believed that he was not a monster, but rather, society was; he stated how people refused to see themselves as criminals, and was very meticulous in how he was planning the city's downfall and wanting to hold up a mirror to reflect their true selfish natures.[7] He compared his relationship with the Batman to the irresistible force paradox, describing himself as "an unstoppable force."

Weaknesses[]

  • Mental Illness: The Joker is a demented killer.

Equipment[]

"Do you wanna know why I use a knife? Guns are too quick. You can't savor all the... little emotions. You see, in their last moments... people show you who they really are. So in a way, I knew your friends better than you ever did. Would you like to know which of them were cowards?"
―Joker to Gerard Stephens[src]
  • Knives: Joker used many knives, preferring them over firearms. He stuck a Microtech Combat Troodon in Gambol's mouth and killed him. He later used a Smith & Wesson Extractor 1600 to kill an impostor of Batman, held it to Rachel Dawes' face, held it when he attempted to unmask Batman, and held it to the Chechen after he burned his half of the money. He also had a knife in his shoe, as well as an AKC Concord 077, Microtech Makora, and Lancashire Vegetable Peeler, all of which were collected when he was arrested.
"Look what I did to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets."
―Joker to Two-Face[src]
  • Glock 17: Joker's sidearm is a Glock 17 that has been converted to full-auto and fitted with a stainless slide and a 33 round magazine. As Bozo, he prepared the pistol for the bank robbery and used it to shoot the bank manager and the bus driver. He later fired it at the SWAT van and switched to his shotgun when he ran out of ammunition. After burning his half of the money, he used it to hold the Chechen at gunpoint. When he was disguised as a nurse in Harvey Dent's hospital room, he shot a police officer with a suppressor.
  • Smith & Wesson Model 19: Joker took a snub rose revolver from one of his men at Harvey Dent's fundraiser to hold Rachel Dawes at gunpoint before shooting out the window behind them.
  • Smith & Wesson Model 64: Joker gave a revolver to Harvey Dent to kill his enemies, flipping his coin to decide their fate. He let Dent hold him at gunpoint, using his thumb to prevent the hammer from falling if Dent pulled the trigger.
  • Remington 870: Joker took the bank manager's short-barreled, sawed-off shotgun and brought it to Harvey Dent's fundraiser to threaten the guests by firing it in the air and aiming at them. He later used it to shoot a traffic cop and fired at the SWAT van.
"They took our guns. And our uniforms."
―Honor Guardsman to Batman[src]
  • M1 Garand: Joker used a rifle while disguised as an honor guard during the funeral of Commissioner Gillian Loeb. He fired it at the air before firing at the mayor, Anthony Garcia.
  • Smith & Wesson M76: Joker used a submachine gun to fire at Batman on his Batpod and several civilian cars.
  • Norinco Type 69 RPG: Joker used a rocket launcher to destroy a police cruiser and the Tumbler.
"Joker-man, what you do with all your money?"
"You see, I'm a guy of simple taste. I enjoy... dynamite... and gunpowder... and gasoline. And you know the thing that they have in common? They're cheap."
Chechen and Joker[src]
  • Grenades: Joker used many grenades. He placed them in the hands of the hostages at Gotham National Bank during the heist.

Relationships[]

Allies[]

Enemies[]

Trivia[]

  • In their face to face confrontations, neither Batman nor Joker refer to one another by name.
  • The Joker and Batman share numerous scenes. However, the Joker and Bruce Wayne never share a scene.
  • Whenever the Joker says a joke nobody's laughing but when he's serious everybody laughs.
  • At his penthouse party, Bruce rhetorically asks "Where is Harvey" just prior to Joker asking , almost the exact same thing, moments later in an entirely different context.
  • The Joker says to Batman that Harvey's being held at "250 52nd street." Said out loud this address contains the phrase 'fifty-fifty', Harvey has a 50/50 shot at surviving.
  • During the interrogation scene, the Joker manages to get a peek of the commissioner's watch to determine how much time he has left until the timers run out.
  • When the Joker is disguised as a nurse in the hospital you can see that he wears a sticker from Harvey's campaign.
  • Joker tells the Chechen "I'm only burning my half," referencing the mountain of money of behind him. The dramatic irony is this applied to Harvey Dent, symbolized by half his face being burned off, which was the side the Joker corrupted.
  • When The Joker is standing on the street waiting to be picked up by his henchmen, over his left shoulder is a sign Payday Store. They are about to rob a bank, and a typical expression for that sort of day is "payday".
  • During the bank robbery scene, each of the Joker's goons is referred to by a codename, most of them taken from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." The Joker's codename is never said on screen, but if the captions are turned on his codename is shown as Bozo.
  • In the opening sequence, The Joker and his henchmen are riding to the bank heist in a truck, all wearing clown masks, much like the classic circus routine of several clowns arriving in one vehicle.
  • In the opening scene of the goons in the car talk about a 5 way split, not knowing about the third (6th) man on the roof. The true number of them is kept secret so they don't catch on to Joker's real plan. When Joker gets into the car, the driver, Grumpy, says "two guys on the roof. Every guy gets a share. Five shares is plenty" Chuckles, in the passenger seat: Six shares. Don't forget the guy who planned the job." Joker, as we all know, was the third guy in the truck. Dopey was "the alarm guy" who gets killed on the roof by Happy. Happy was the safecracker who gets killed by Grumpy ("Boss told me when the guy was done, I should take him out. One less share, right?" Grumpy: "Funny, he told me something similar") Chuckles gets killed by the Bank Manager, Grumpy catches on to Joker's plan, but gets killed by the bus. Joker ("Bozo" before he unmasks) as he says, kills the bus driver.
  • During the hospital scene, when The Joker is dressed as a nurse, his name tag reads "Nurse Hemming," an inside joke by costume designer Lindy Hemming.
  • When Harvey holds the Joker at gunpoint in the hospital scene, you can see that the Joker is actually holding the revolver's hammer with his finger, thus preventing the shot in case Harvey's coin lands on "bad" side.
  • The Joker only looked at three of the people he killed in this movie. He shoots the bus driver while looking back at the hostages. Two of Gambol's thugs he stabs while looking up. He kills Gambol while looking at another thug. He throws the cigar, lighting Lau on fire and turns to talk to The Chechen as Lau dies. The three he looks at are the thug he kills with a pencil, the policeman stopping the semi-truck before the chase, and the policeman that is clearing the hospital out, which he shoots with a pistol while in a nurse uniform. This character choice is a reference to the graphic novel "The Man Who Laughs", in which it is mentioned that The Joker "just opened fire and didn't even look at the people while he killed them."
  • The Joker falling from the Prewitt building mirrors a scene from the first Joker story in Batman #1 (Spring, 1940) in which The Joker falls from a penthouse scaffolding, but is caught by Batman.
  • This movie used numerous elements of The Joker's first appearance in Batman #1, published in 1940. In this movie and Batman #1, The Joker publicly announces his crimes before committing them, removes his make-up and disguises himself as a police officer to gain access to a person he threatened to kill, uses a powerful bomb smuggled into jail to escape, steals and kills not for personal gain, but simply to create chaos and disorder, and infringes upon the city's old-fashioned mobsters.
  • The Joker's fate at the end of this movie was left ambiguous. This is in line with the comics, as the Joker would routinely be presumed dead to end a story, only to see him return in later stories very much alive.
  • It was confirmed in August 2018 that had the ferry passengers triggered the detonator, they would have blown themselves up rather than the adjacent ferry. This follows the Joker's theme of misleading his victims.
  • The camera angle shooting up at The Joker as he beats Batman with a pipe is reflective of the graphic novel scene in the Batman series "A Death In The Family", in which The Joker beats up Robin (Jason Todd) with a crowbar.
  • In this movie, despite his name, The Joker only performs three actions that could pass for jokes. The smoke bomb in the bank, the pencil trick, and his fake seductive greeting to Harvey Dent while in the nurse's outfit. (He also claps sarcastically when James Gordon is appointed Police Commissioner, and throws his hands up in mock despair when the hospital he targets (Gotham General) doesn't immediately go up in flames.)
  • The Joker wearing a nurse costume is most likely a nod to a scrapped idea from Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, where the Joker was originally going to be dressed like Madonna. The only reason it wasn't used was because a cross-dressing villain was considered to be too silly.
  • The identities of the Joker's clowns in the bank heist, whose names you would only know through the script or through watching the scene with subtitles. The robbers are: Dopey: Alarm man (one of the two robbers who enters by rappelling on a cable from a vacant office across the street). Is shot in the back by Happy with a suppressed pistol. Happy: The guy who shoots Dopey, then runs downstairs and drills into the vault. As soon as the vault door unlocks, he is shot by Grumpy. Grumpy: The driver of the stationwagon, entering through the lobby with Chuckles and Bozo. He is shot in the shoulder by the Bank Manager (as Bozo tricks the Manager into using his last shotgun pellet). When Happy remarks that he was told to take out the alarm guy, Grumpy remarks that he was told something similar, and shoots Happy. He then loads their satchels with money, and Bozo helps him place them by the door. When they're done, Grumpy draws his pistol and aims it at Bozo, believing that The Joker has Bozo to kill him after they load the cash, unaware that Bozo is The Joker. The Joker shrugs and says that actually, he kills the bus driver. Grumpy is confused, until seconds later, when a school bus bursts through the doors and runs over him. Chuckles: He is the guy riding shotgun with Grumpy when they pick up The Joker (as Bozo) on the street corner. When they enter, he announces their arrival by firing a submachine gun into the ceiling, then overpowers a guard. He is killed when the Bank Manager shoots him in the back with a sawed-off shotgun. The Joker (posing as Bozo): Handling crowd control, The Joker sticks primed grenades into the hostages' hands so they will be focused on holding on for dear life. He wounds the Bank Manager after tricking him into using his last round, using an automatic Glock 18 pistol modified to use extended stick magazines. After the school bus arrives, The Joker shoots and kills the driver, and finishes loading the money. As he is about to drive away, the Bank Manager asks him what he believes in. The Joker momentarily doubles back over to the Manager, sticks a gas grenade in his mouth, and unmasks himself to reveal his clown make-up, before driving off.
  • In the chase scene where The Joker is firing a bazooka at the police car Harvey Dent is in, on the side of the truck The Joker is driving, the letter "S" has been painted on ahead of the word "Laughter", which is already imprinted on the truck, making the word "Slaughter".
  • Harvey Dent believes that the police and Batman decided to save him instead of Rachel, when in reality, the Joker set it up such that they'd be saving the person they hadn't intended to save. Bruce's comments at the fundraiser also count for those familiar with Two-Face from the comics. Bruce: Look at this face. This is the face of Gotham's bright future.
  • Batman overhears a call between The Joker and the 911 operator, where The Joker says "Eighth and Orchard. You'll find Harvey Dent there (believed to be missing at the time)." Batman finds two dead men, one named Patrick Harvey. The other was Richard Dent, who was a Hall of Fame NFL player for the Chicago Bears, with much of this movie being shot in Chicago.

Behind the scenes[]

Batman Begins[]

  • Heath Ledger was considered for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman during this movie's early development before Ledger and Nolan agreed he was not right for the role. After this, he was cast as The Joker in The Dark Knight (2008), a role that won him an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
  • The Joker playing card presented to Batman at the end of this movie is a replica of The Joker Card from the 1989 graphic novel "Arkham Asylum" by Grant Morrison and Dave McKean. It carries an evidence label, this label reads that the officer who discovered it was a J. Kerr, one of The Joker's favorite aliases (Joe Kerr) in the comic books.
  • Despite not being "Year One", there are a few references to Year One. The line "You're a good cop. One of the few.", Batman using sonar (hidden in his boot heel) to call on the bats while being attacked by Police, and the ending (although done differently) where Batman's "next case" is The Joker).

The Dark Knight[]

  • In Sir Michael Caine's opinion, Heath Ledger beat the odds and topped Jack Nicholson's Joker from Batman (1989): "Jack was like a clown figure, benign but wicked, maybe a killer old uncle. He could be funny and make you laugh. Heath's gone in a completely different direction to Jack, he's like a really scary psychopath. He's a lovely guy and his Joker is going to be a hell of a revelation in this picture." Caine bases this belief on a scene where The Joker pays a visit to Bruce Wayne's penthouse. He'd never met Ledger before, so when Ledger arrived and performed, he gave Caine such a fright, he forgot his lines.
  • In preparation for his role as The Joker, Heath Ledger hid away in a motel room for about six weeks. During this extended stay of seclusion, Ledger delved deep into the psychology of the character. He devoted himself to developing The Joker's every tic, namely the voice and that sadistic-sounding laugh (for the voice, Ledger's goal was to create a tone that didn't echo the work Jack Nicholson did in his 1989 performance as the Joker). Ledger's interpretation of The Joker's appearance was primarily based on the chaotic, disheveled look of punk rocker Sid Vicious combined with the psychotic mannerisms of Malcolm McDowell's character, Alex De Large, from A Clockwork Orange (1971).
  • Aaron Eckhart spoke about a unique experience he had with Heath Ledger during the hospital scene. He said that before lines were exchanged, Ledger would just walk around, in character, mumbling to himself in an odd manner. All Eckhart could do at the time was just watch him while still in character. This went on for several minutes, until Ledger got close to him. Eckhart felt compelled at this point to fiercely raise his hand up. Immediately, Ledger grabbed Eckhart's raised hand in an equally matched fierce manner. When the scene was over, Ledger, now out of character, told Eckhart "That's what acting's all about."
  • In the documentary I Am Heath Ledger (2017), Heath Ledger's vocal coach on this movie, Gerry Grennell, stated that Heath had to continuously lick his lips due to his prosthetic coming off whenever he spoke. He eventually made this a tic of the character as he was filming.
  • Heath Ledger's sudden death from drug toxicity on January 22, 2008, prompted immediate speculation over this movie's state and Ledger's disposition prior to death. Soon after Ledger's death was announced, Warner Brothers issued a statement that verified that Ledger had finished all of his scenes in principal photography, as well as post-production fulfillments (looping), thus making The Joker his final, completed movie role. Rumors abounded that playing the intense role had taken its toll on Ledger's mental state, causing him to become depressed and take a wrong combination of drugs as a result. However, his family has since put such rumors to rest by stating that far from being depressed, he had a lot of fun playing the role. Ledger did suffer from insomnia throughout his life, and would often take sleeping pills together with other prescription drugs (something his sister had actually warned against the night before his death). Unfortunately, the mix he took on that night proved to be a fatal combination.
  • While filming the chase scene with the Joker and the S.W.A.T. vans, one of only four IMAX cameras in the world at that time was destroyed.
  • While this movie is dedicated to Heath Ledger, it also bears a dedication to Conway Wickliffe, a stuntman who was killed when the car he was a passenger in crashed.
  • Christopher Nolan and his co-writers, Jonathan Nolan and David S. Goyer, made the decision very early on not to explore The Joker's origins. This was so the character could be presented as an "absolute."
  • Trouble arose during a public relations campaign before the movie's release, when a website related to this movie sent out several cakes purportedly from The Joker, containing a cell phone inside which made the cake vibrate, and had wires sticking out, making the cake look like a bomb. One such news station, which received one of the cakes, believed it to be an actual terrorist act, and the entire building had to be evacuated.
  • Despite endless speculation on which actor had been chosen to portray The Joker, Heath Ledger had always been amongst writer, producer, and director Christopher Nolan's foremost choices for the role. Ledger and Nolan had met during the Batman Begins (2005) casting process for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman, but Nolan and Heath agreed Ledger was wrong for the part. When casting the part of The Joker, Nolan met with several other actors before Ledger, but found them reluctant to take the role because of the popularity of Jack Nicholson's performance in Batman (1989). Upon meeting with Ledger again, Nolan recognized him as the perfect choice for the part. When asked the reason for this unexpected casting, Nolan simply replied, "Because he's fearless."
  • During the chase scene, when the Joker takes over driving the semi after his driver is killed, the bullet holes on the windshield form a smiley face.
  • Heath Ledger's posthumous Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, as The Joker, was coincidentally announced on the first anniversary of his death.
  • Heath Ledger posthumously won a total of 32 Best Actor in a Supporting Role awards for his work on this movie, including the "quintuple": Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA, SAG, and Critics' Choice award. The only awards for which he was nominated, but didn't win, were the Satellite Award (which went to Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road (2008)) and the London Film Critics' Circle Award for actor of the year (which went to Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler (2008)). Michael Shannon and Mickey Rourke played comic book villains in movies of their own; Shannon as General Zod in Man of Steel (2013), and Rourke as Ivan Vanko in Iron Man 2 (2010).
  • When it was announced that The Joker would be main antagonist in this movie, it was rumored that Paul Bettany would be playing the part. However, when Heath Ledger was cast, writer, producer, and director Christopher Nolan came under criticism from the media, as they thought Ledger was completely wrong for the role. These concerns were quickly silenced when the movie came out, as Ledger received universal praise for his performance.
  • Elaborate, interactive marketing campaigns were launched in the months leading up to the release of this movie. One of these was an event at the 2007 San Diego Comic Con called "Why So Serious?", which involved fans following clues hidden around the city. The legions of Joker-painted fans ended up congregating in the street across from the convention center, where one of their numbers was welcomed into a black Escalade (with Gotham license plates) that had just pulled up. After a moment, the fan started screaming and the SUV sped away. Later that day, a Gotham City newspaper was circulated reporting that a man believed to be The Joker was found beaten to death. Included were crime scene photos of the fan who had gotten into the Escalade, and a mention that he was found with a playing card in his hand, on which was scribbled "See you in December."
  • The date seen on Lieutenant James Gordon's security camera photo of the Joker taken during the bank heist reads "2008/07/18", which was the U.S. theatrical release date of this movie.
  • Just as it was when filming Batman Begins (2005), writer, producer, and director Christopher Nolan oversaw every shot, because there was no second unit (Not withstanding Joker's homemade videos which were directed by Heath Ledger).
  • Jerry Robinson, one of the original creators of the Joker back in 1940, was hired as a consultant on this movie (The Joker was to be portrayed according to his first two appearances in the comics, in which Robinson was involved). His "Batman" co-creator Bob Kane had earlier been hired as a consultant for Batman (1989).
  • Once she knew Heath Ledger had been cast as the Joker, costume designer Lindy Hemming based the character's attire off of an eclectic line-up of clothing styles, ranging from Vivienne Westwood to John Lydon to Iggy Pop to Pete Doherty to Alexander McQueen. Hemming's aim was to modify the Joker's familiar appearance with "a younger, trendier look", in order to represent Ledger's generation.
  • Unlike his counterpart in both the comics and Batman (1989), The Joker in this movie does not have his hair and flesh permanently bleached by toxic waste. His trademark grin was never definitively identified in the comics as a disfigurement. However, its appearance here, as scars carved into his flesh, echo the character's original inspiration, the character Gwynplaine from Victor Hugo's novel The Man Who Laughs (1928).
  • The nine-minute suite composed for The Joker is based on two notes, D and C, named after DC Comics, which publishes these characters.
  • Christopher Nolan cast Heath Ledger based on his Oscar-nominated performance in Brokeback Mountain (2005). "He had such a lack of vanity. He wasn't afraid to bury himself in his character."
  • Heath Ledger spent several months working with a vocal coach on the Joker's voice. He used ventriloquist dummies as inspiration for the disconnected, mocking quality.
  • Paul Bettany, Lachy Hulme, Adrien Brody, Steve Carell, and Robin Williams all publicly expressed interest in playing The Joker, little knowing that Christopher Nolan always had Heath Ledger in mind.
  • Hans Zimmer often used bizarre methods when developing his musical score, particularly with scenes with the Joker which would involve playing piano wires with razor blades, and guitar with shards of metal.
  • In the Italian version of Batman (1989), Jack Nicholson's voice was dubbed by Giancarlo Giannini. In this movie, Heath Ledger was voiced by Giannini's son Adriano Giannini, with the result that Italian audience felt a connection between the two Jokers, since the voices are very similar. Giancarlo Giannini, however, makes a cameo by dubbing one of the Mafia bosses.
  • Michael Jai White (Gambol) was on the Collider Podcast (March 2019), where he talked about the atmosphere of working on the set of this movie. His description of an extremely relaxed movie set and Heath Ledger (The Joker) confirms Ledger's parents' explanation that he did not in fact suffer from depression while playing the psychopathic role. White described Ledger as being "chill," a great co-actor with whom to work and someone who was having "a blast."
  • The studio's viral campaign, which focused largely on the character of the Joker, had to be refocused following Heath Ledger's sudden death.
  • When he was getting his make-up applied, Heath Ledger would scrunch up his face to make it look more uneven and self-applied.
  • This film marks the first ever Academy Award win for an actor's performance in a comic book film: going to Heath Ledger (posthumously) for Best Supporting Actor as the Joker. Joaquin Phoenix's win in 2020 marks only the second Oscar win for the performance of a comic book character, and the first such win in the Best Actor in a Lead Role category, coincidentally for a unique take on the exact same character, the title role in Joker (2019). As such, the Joker is the only comic character ever to win an actor an Oscar, and he's done it twice.
  • According to their father, Heath Ledger's sister would dress him up as a nurse when they were kids.
  • The Joker's make-up and look was partially inspired by Brandon Lee's character in The Crow (1994). Interestingly, both Lee and Ledger died during, or just after, the making of their respective projects.
  • A common misconception is that Heath Ledger was method acting when playing the role of The Joker. There is no indication that he tried to "live" as his character, and there is no evidence that he drew from his own life experiences when acting the part.
  • Timothée Chalamet has said that Heath Ledger's performance in this movie made him want to become an actor. He worked with writer, producer, and director Christopher Nolan on Interstellar (2014).
  • Heath Ledger improvised where the scene that the Joker was gonna blow up the hospital with the detonator and it didn't go off on the first try. But when it didn't, Heath decided to continue acting. Well, if the scene was cut after the failed explosion, the makers would have lost a good amount of money. So, the actor's quick wit saved the day.
  • Aaron Eckhart appeared in The Black Dahlia (2006), which featured several references to The Man Who Laughs (1928). The appearance of the hero, Gwynplaine, in that movie is what inspired the appearance of The Joker.
  • Heath Ledger is the only Joker actor not to be older than his Batman co-star Christian Bale, as Bale was five years older than Ledger.
  • A fan proposed that this iteration of the Joker is a heavily-traumatized veteran of the War on Terror, hence his "truckload of soldiers" line and his skill with multiple types of firearms.
  • Willem Dafoe was considered for the role of the Joker. Dafoe was one of the actors considered for the Joker in Batman (1989).
  • Many years were taken off The Joker in this movie, placing him in his late twenties. He is typically placed in his mid forties, older than Batman.
  • When Joker confronts Harvey in the hospital he has white paint still on his fingers from re-applying his makeup throughout the film, this can also be seen in various other scenes (albeit briefly).
  • Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix both won Oscars for playing The Joker. Ledger won Best Actor in a Supporting Role for The Dark Knight (2008), and Phoenix won Best Actor for Joker (2019). This marks the only time that two actors have won Oscars for playing two different versions of the same character. (The two films take place in different universes.) However, Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro won separate Oscars for playing the exact same character. Brando won Best Actor for The Godfather (1972) and De Niro won Best Actor in a Supporting Role for The Godfather: Part II (1974), both in the role of Vito Corleone.
  • In the opening scene, the Joker's jacket is already frayed with one single longer string. This means he likely already has the string tied to the grenade used to smoke the bank manager and the rest of the bank out.
  • The famous pencil scene was shot in 2 days and 22 takes. Nolan decided to stage the stunt for real, with the stuntman swiping the pencil away at the last minute and apparently had "three knockouts" while filming the scene.
  • Prosthetics make-up supervisor Colin Sullivan created three different sculptures for the Joker's scars. He made a silicone mold combining the three looks, using a technique he learned on The Last Samurai (2003).
  • When Michael Jai White saw Heath Ledger (Joker) during the meeting with his crew he was seeing Ledger for the first time.
  • Joker asks the time from Gordon, because Rachel and Harvey are trapped somewhere with timed bombs. When Joker doesn't get the answer, he glances at Gordon's watch. Now he knows the time and how long he needs to stall Batman before telling the location.
  • To create the pencil magic trick, the henchmen's head was actually slammed against the table (with a rubber buffer) 22 times. The only time Heath Ledger broke character on set was the first of three times the actor was knocked out from the impact.
  • According to writer, producer, and director Christopher Nolan, the main theme of this movie (in contrast to "fear" in Batman Begins (2005)) is "escalation", personified in The Joker, whose emergence comes as a result of Batman's pressure on the mob, and it just climbs from there.
  • During the Jokers interrogation, he makes Batman choose between Harvey and Rachel, and actually explains to the Batman that he's going to have to choose who dies. By choosing Rachel (thinking he'll be saving her) he's actually choosing her to die.
  • In the original origin story of The Joker, he was disfigured by acid, whereas in this movie, it was done by a blade. This ties into the notorious 1947 murder and disfiguration of Elizabeth Short, who was referred to as "the Black Dahlia". The first time The Joker describes his scars, he says that they were made with a knife, and were intended to create a smile. When Elizabeth Short was killed, this is exactly what was done to her face. Until the Manson murders in 1969, the Short murder and mutilation represented the most hideous and deeply shocking crime in all of Los Angeles history. The concept in this movie, that The Joker had a smile carved into his face, adds to the terrifying nature of the character.
  • When Commissioner Gordon holds Joker's mugshot from the security camera. The number displayed is the exact date when the movie was released on July 18th 2008.
  • There are only two official Lego figures released under this movie's label. They are, of course, Batman and the Joker, and can only be purchased with the pro-builder's model of the Tumbler.
  • After Batman leaves to save 'Rachel' you can see that there are shards of broken glass behind Joker. He then hoodwinks Det. Stephens to attack him [offscreen] Cut to the next scene where you can see Joker holding on of the shards to his neck.
  • The mask that The Joker (Heath Ledger) wore during the bank heist at the beginning is strikingly similar to the mask that Cesar Romero wore during the end of Batman (1966) season one, episode five, "The Joker Is Wild".
  • Based on early concept art produced by Jamie Rama, a potential scene was pitched that would have featured The Joker in a slaughterhouse. No further information or details on this scrapped scene have been released since this movie's release.
  • Takashi Miike's 2001 film 'Ichi The Killer' is a major influence on the aesthetic of this film. Early script drafts had Batman becoming even more violent than he ever had before, with the early death of Rachel Dawes and is matched by a sadistic Joker. The villain of 'Ichi the Killer' - Kakihara - with his trench coats, humour, anarchic logic and self-inflicted facial scars (particularly Glasgow kiss) majorly inspired Heath Ledger's Joker.
  • In the beginning, Joker's jacket is already frayed with one single longer string. This means he likely already has the string tied to the grenade used to smoke the bank manager and the rest of the bank out.
  • This movie marked the second Oscar nomination for Heath Ledger in which he has acted with a Gyllenhaal sibling. He worked with Maggie Gyllenhaal's brother Jake in Brokeback Mountain (2005), which had earned him his other Oscar nomination.
  • At 6'1", Heath Ledger is the second tallest Joker, after Cesar Romero's 6'3", and before Jack Nicholson's 5'9".
  • For this film Heath Ledger became the first person to win an Oscar for portraying a comic book character and the fourth to be nominated, after Al Pacino for Dick Tracy (1990), Paul Newman for Road to Perdition (2002), and William Hurt for A History of Violence (2005). All four men were nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category.
  • When the Joker fires the RPG (rocket propelled grenade) from the trailer both side doors are open if they weren't everybody on board would have been injured from the back blast.
  • The Joker loads a magazine, and racks the slide of his Glock, but the slide stays back, meaning the magazine was empty, and his gun was empty the whole time.
  • After Gamble interrupts Joker's initial speech, he switches gears with a new one to get the rest of the mob on his side, showing he in fact is the kind of a guy with a plan.
  • Two-Face, in this movie, is similar to the villain of the James Bond movie, GoldenEye (1995), Alec Trevelyan, who is Janus. They are both two-sided, believes in the same aspect, and is a friend of the protagonist until something happens and turns against them. Also Javier Bardem Bond villain Silva was inspired by Heath Ledger's The Joker and Tom Hardy's Bane in The Dark Knight trilogy.
  • The scene where the Joker (Heath Ledger) jeeringly yells at Batman (Christian Bale) to run him over in the Batpod is slightly reminiscent of a scene in Tim Burton's Batman (1989) where the Joker (Jack Nicholson) urges Batman (Michael Keaton) to hit him with the Batwing.
  • The newspaper article that Joker writes about the attempted murder of the mayor includes a name 'Joe Ondrejko', (an anagram for Joker) who has been credited as the 'Construction Coordinator' on several Christopher Nolan Movies including The Prestige (2006) and Tenet (2020).
  • John Jarratt and Don Johnson were considered to play The Joker.
  • In the opening sequence, you can see the amount of bags that are ready to be loaded onto the bus is between eight and ten bags, yet we only see The Joker load four bags onto the bus. Lau later tells the mobsters around the table that they were robbed of $68 million. $1 million in $100 bills weighs twenty-two pounds, meaning if the bags are loaded evenly in multiples of a million, each bag would have contained $17 million, and would have weighed in excess of 350 pounds per bag.
  • Ron Dean appeared in The Fugitive (1993), which was also filmed in his native Chicago. It also won an Oscar for Tommy Lee Jones for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. His character, like Heath Ledger's, was inspired by a Victor Hugo character. Gerard was modelled after Inspector Javert from Les Misérables, and The Joker was inspired by Gwynplaine from The Man Who Laughs (1928). Jones also played Two-Face in Batman Forever (1995).
  • Despite it being synonymous with Heath Ledger's interpretation of Joker, the infamous phrase, "We live in a society," is never once said in the film.
  • Aaron Eckhart plays Harvey Dent in this movie, and is an enemy to the Joker. Coincidentally, Eckhart is also the name of the policeman who faced off against the Joker in Batman (1989).
  • The "Joker Theme" ("Duh-nuh.. duh-nuh") prevalent in scenes where The Joker appears suddenly, is very similar to the main riff of "Sabatoge" by The Beastie Boys.
  • Marks the second time that Heath Ledger played a villain. In Ned Kelly (2003), he portrayed Kelly as a Robin Hood-like figure. He was, however, considered to be an antagonistic character in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009). Due to his untimely death, he was unable to finish the role, making this movie his only completed villainous role.
  • In the Japanese dub, Keiji Fujiwara was very likely cast as The Joker due to his role as another ax-crazy psycho, Ali al-Saachez from Kidô Senshi Gundam 00 (2007), which was being broadcast in Japan at the time this movie debuted there.
  • Heath Ledger directed both homemade videos that The Joker sends to GCN. The first video involving the fake Batman was done under writer, producer, and director Christopher Nolan's supervision. Nolan thought Ledger had done so well with that sequence, he felt there was no need for him to be there when it came time to film the scene where reporter Mike Engel reads The Joker's statement. He put his trust in Ledger and let him do whatever he wanted, ultimately pleased with the result after he'd seen the outcome.
  • Heath Ledger improvised when he started clapping inside his jail cell in a mocking and sardonic way, as Gordon is promoted. The clapping was not scripted, but Christopher Nolan immediately encouraged the crew to continue filming, and the sequence was included in the final cut.
  • Christian Bale stated in an interview that during the interrogation scene, Heath Ledger wanted him to beat him as hard as he could to get the real feeling of what was required from the scene.
  • In Batman (1989), Batman used the grapple gun on The Joker, causing him to fall to his death. In this movie, Batman also used the grapple gun on The Joker, this time to save him from falling.
  • The infamous interrogation scene originally ended with Batman, after getting the information he needs from The Joker and dropping him on the ground, quickly kicking The Joker in the head right before he leaves to save Rachel, almost as an afterthought. However, this part was removed in editing, because Christopher Nolan felt the action seemed "a little too petulant for Batman."
  • The hospital that The Joker blows up was actually an old, out-of-use candy factory in the Chicago suburbs. It was redressed and imploded for this movie.
  • The final fight scene between the Joker and Batman was shot in the Trump Tower in Chicago during its construction.
  • There are many elements from various Batman graphic novels, either verbatim or slightly re-cast. In The Long Halloween, Batman, Gordon, and Dent fake Dent's death; in this movie, Gordon's death is faked. Also in The Long Halloween, Batman poses as a S.W.A.T. officer; in the movie, Gordon does. The Joker's reference at the end of this movie to pushing Dent over the edge mirrors his social experiment with Gordon in The Killing Joke, in which The Joker attempts to drive Gordon insane by making him have a really bad day. A lot of the interaction between Batman and The Joker is taken from The Long Halloween, specifically the interrogation scene in the movie, which is also is similar to elements of The Dark Knight Returns. The copycat Batmen were inspired by The Sons of The Batman from The Dark Knight Returns. Finally, in The Killing Joke, The Joker explains if he "had a past, it would be multiple choice." This is referenced when The Joker tells two different stories about the origin of his scars.
  • When Harvey Dent is being transferred, his holding vehicle is attacked by the Joker with various guns. One is an R.P.G., and a S.W.A.T. member is heard asking if it is a bazooka, which is a signature weapon of the Joker's girlfriend and partner in crime, Harley Quinn.
  • In the final fight in the tower, after Batman pulls The Joker up by a cable, right before the police officers arrive to arrest The Joker, he hits the camera while giving his monologue and waving around with his arms, you can see the screen view shaking for a moment.
  • Michael Jai White gave an interview with the YouTube series Vladtv in 2019 where he stated that his Gambol character didn't die in the script he was given. In the way Gambol's final scene was originally filmed, White put his hand up to his face and fell down after The Joker had cut his cheek open (from the knife being inside of his mouth) which would have given Gambol half of a similar scar that The Joker had. White went on to say that he was supposed to interact with Cillian Murphy's The Scarecrow character later on with the appearance of the scar on his face. He further went on to speculate that because of Heath Ledger's death, that more than likely, Christopher Nolan wanted to preserve as much of Ledger's performance as The Joker as possible and simply shortened the knife scene in post-production to make it look like Gambol was killed so that little to no re-shoots or edits to The Joker would be needed.
  • The Joker says that Rachel is located at Avenue X and Cicero. Cicero is a prominent street in Chicago (where a lot of the movie was filmed) located at 4800 West (48 blocks from State Street).
  • In the "Two ships" game theory scenario, The Joker is seen with all three of the Chechen's dogs. In Greek Mythology, Cerberus is the "hound of Hades", who guards the gates of Hell, and is usually is presented as a three-headed dog. Though this may come off as purely coincidental, The Joker's deeds and personality are emblematic of Pluto, Lucifer, and other demonic entities, and the image of him with three dogs, gives that notion further validation.
  • In the original script, The Joker reads the message to the citizens of Gotham, which scares them into taking the ferry. In the movie, it's Engel.
  • The Joker is the only primary antagonist in the whole The Dark Knight trilogy to remain alive. But also it is the only unfortunate case of the actor passing away shortly after filming.
  • When Batman is atop the Sears Tower monitoring telecommunications, a voice says "8th and Orchard, you'll find Harvey Dent there". The voice is very similar to that of Jack Nicholson, who iconically portrayed The Joker in Batman (1989). Nicholson has a very distinguishable voice, and although unconfirmed by Christopher Nolan, there is much speculation amongst fans that it is indeed either a Jack Nicholson cameo, or tribute to him.
  • Shortly after the truck flip scene, as The Joker walks out of the truck, you can see "Sweet Home Chicago" in the background on a building.
  • When Batman goes head to head with The Joker facing off and staring Batman down as he heads toward him on the Batpod. This is a similar re-creation of when Batman faced off with The Joker in his Batwing in Batman (1989).
  • Jokers 'cut' smile is known as a 'Glasgow smile', called by people in Scotland a Glesga smile, a wound caused by making small cuts on the corners of a victim's mouth, then beating or stabbing them until the muscles in their face contract, causing the cuts to extend toward the ears. Somewhat well known act of violence among prison inmates worldwide. The violence of this injury, by inference suggests why the Joker tells varying stories about how he acquired his 'smile', as ways to dissaccociate himself from the trauma, as well as display his penchant for joking.
  • The final confrontation between Batman and the Joker similar to the end of Steve Engleharts story "Strange Apparitions". Where Batman and Joker fight each other on top of a construction building.

The Dark Knight Rises[]

  • About a year before this movie's release, writer, producer, and director Christopher Nolan mentioned he was considering using a mixture of CGI and deleted scenes from The Dark Knight (2008) to have the Joker appear briefly. He ultimately decided it was disrespectful to Heath Ledger.
  • Out of respect for Heath Ledger, the Joker is never mentioned.
  • Anne Hathaway has revealed that during her audition, she thought that she was auditioning for The Joker's on again-off again girlfriend/partner-in-crime Harley Quinn. It was only after she had a discussion with Christopher Nolan that she found out that she was auditioning for Catwoman.
  • During the motorcycle chase scene, Bane is wearing a red helmet with black visor, as well as a brown motorcycle jacket. This is the original costume Jason Todd took under his Red Hood persona, which is a callback to the Joker's original criminal identity.
  • The original story treatment by David S. Goyer, as outlined before the production of Batman Begins (2005), was to have Two-Face as the principal antagonist for this movie. Initially, at the end of The Dark Knight (2008), The Joker would have scarred Harvey Dent at a courtroom trial, setting up the third movie. Dent's death and fall was put in at the end of the second movie instead, to set up the aftermath that follows. Following the release of this movie, writer, producer, and director Christopher Nolan elaborated on his choice to include the Two-Face story in the prior movie. He wanted each movie to stand on its own as a complete story, and not "tease" any sequels, a practice that had become common amongst comic book movies. Nolan feels that holding back story or leaving a movie open-ended for a sequel on which to build is a cheat to the audience, which deserves to see a movie that has consumed all of the filmmakers' creative energy.
  • According to The Hollywood Reporter, Anne Hathaway's stunt double broke one of the IMAX cameras when she crashed the Batpod into it. This marks the second time an IMAX camera was destroyed on a Christopher Nolan Dark Knight movie. A previous camera was smashed when filming the Joker's underground truck chase in The Dark Knight (2008).
  • Bane is the only principle villain seen to be killed. In Batman Begins (2005), we assume Ducard to be killed in the falling monorail carriage, but do not see his body. In The Dark Knight (2008), we do not know if The Joker was killed at all, thereby making Bane the only primary villain seen dying on-screen.

In the comics[]

To be added

Advertisement