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How wouldThe Dark Knight Riseshave changed if the late Heath Ledger had n’t tragically passed away concisely after filming his iconic portrayal of the Joker in 2008 ? Widely considered the bestBatmanmovie of all time , if not the proficient superhero picture show of all time , The Dark Knightrepresents the pinnacle ofChristopher Nolan ’s DC trilogyand his hyper - realistic urban gumption approach to the Caped Crusader . Grossing over $ 1 billion and notching up 8 honorary society award nominations , The Dark Knightwas implemental in elevate the superhero genre beyond mere blockbuster action risky venture fare .
A sizable chunk ofThe Dark Knight ’s success must be impute to the appearance ofHeath LedgerasBatman ’s most celebrated baddie , the Joker . Working the madden killer clown around into Nolan ’s established tone , Ledger ’s performance took on a living of its own and the doer steal every scene in which he appeared . By embody the chaotic madness of the DC comics eccentric and adding a very credible real - world depravity , Ledger delivered a timeless performance and was awarded a luxuriously - deserved posthumous Oscar for Best Supporting Actor .
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Joker was still alive at the end ofThe Dark Knight , albeit finally apprehended by the Batman , and Ledger was lined up for a dramatic return in Nolan ’s termination to the trilogy , The Dark Knight Rises . Sadly , that possibility was abduct away when the role player died during the editing process ofThe Dark Knightand the sequel wisely embarked on an entirely new storyline , introducingTom Hardy as Baneand revisiting the influence of Ra ’s al Ghul fromBatman set out . But how wouldThe Dark Knight Riseshave looked if real - life events had transpire differently and Heath Ledger ’s Joker had made a triumphal return ?
Early Plans Had Joker Creating Two-Face In Batman 3
Even during the sidereal day ofBatman Begins , writer , David S. Goyer , had a rough overview sketched out for an entireBatmantrilogy , and his plans hint towards a longer electric arc for the Joker . In a piece published byPremieremagazine around the time the first film was released , Goyer ’s initial imaginativeness for hisDark Knighttrilogy was revealed . By this point , of course , Batman Beginsitself was already consummate , andJokerhad been neatly set up to appear in the sequel thanks to the final scene ’s now - famous acting wag tease .
At this very early phase , the concept forThe Dark Knightwas to have Batman , Commissioner Gordon and Harvey Dent team up to bring down the Joker , with the scoundrel being captured - but , crucially , not killed - by the flick ’s last . The main difference between this and the final script was that Dent would not transform intoTwo - Facemidway through the account . rather , Joker was slated to return in the third pic , on trial for his crimes in the premature installment , and would thresh acid at Dent in the court , giving Two - Face his comic book origin story .
Ultimately , this design was concentrate . Joker still creates Two - Face , but does so indirectly through a dual explosion withRachel Dawes inThe Dark Knight , with the two popular villains then joining forces in the latter half of the movie . Nolan even use a modified version of Dent ’s laughable backstory where the prosecutor actually avoids being marred and is come for his courage . Nevertheless , this draft does at least foreground that a two - movie arc was view for Joker at a very other stage and that , at some point , the scoundrel was slate to appear in the film that would eventually becomeThe Dark Knight surface .
Alternatively , it could be contend that the reason Nolan speed Goyer ’s Two - Face plans , motivate them fromBatman 3toThe Dark Knight , is that he decided not have the Joker generate in the threequel even before Ledger ’s passing and for the performance to stay a unique unmarried - moving-picture show experience .
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What Was The Plan For The Dark Knight Sequel Before Heath Ledger’s Death?
Despite having Goyer ’s former theme of what a three - filmBatmanarc might look like , Christopher Nolan has revealed in a turn of interview that he was n’t immediately piercing on making a follow - up toThe Dark Knight , specially after the untimely pass on ofHeath Ledger . In aUSA Todayinterview , the director questioned the necessity of a third instalment , and pondered how many late cinematic sequels had genuinely survive up to the standard of their predecessors . Although Nolan obviously came around to the idea in the end , he collide with Warner Bros. over which villain would boast .
The studio apartment were keen on castingLeonardo DiCaprio as Riddler , likely hop to take advantage onThe Dark Knight ’s Joker succeeder with an antagonist in a relatively similar vein . Nolan disagreed and wanted to head in an by choice unlike direction , settle on Bane as his choice of villain . Warner Bros. ' desire to follow - up Ledger ’s Oscar - succeed performance with something similar is perhaps an indication that , had Heath Ledger lived on , his return inThe Dark Knight Riseswould’ve been an inevitableness . After all , it ’s been almost unimaginable to have such a well - receive fibre not feature at all in the keep an eye on pic , especially while still existing somewhere within that fancied universe .
As mentioned antecedently , Nolan had no firm plans for a third movie while makingThe Dark Knightbut , onLedger ’s part , the actor ’s sisterhas unveil that he was incredibly proud of the performance and was hoping to return in a further offer . And even though Goyer ’s Harvey Dent programme had already been carry out , it ’s clear that he too visualized a third film thatdidfeature the Joker in some capability .
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Exactly what this electrical capacity would be will , unluckily , never be known . It ’s perhaps good to take over , however , that Joker would n’t have been used as a primary antagonist for a 2d clock time running , as this would fly in the facial expression of Nolan ’s oft - stated desire to forefend iterate himself . It would also make no sense to relegateLedger ’s Oscar - winning Jokerto spiel second violin to another baddie . Therefore , it ’s probable that any appearing by the Joker in Nolan ’s thirdBatmanfilm would ’ve been as a faint figure in the background - either the unseen puppet - passe-partout behind another sinister plot or an elusive ghost that haunt Bruce Wayne throughout the film .
The Joker During The Dark Knight Rises
After Heath Ledger ’s death , Christopher Nolan ’s eventual decision to return for a thirdBatmanmovie , and the director ’s press thatThe Dark Knight Risesutilize a very different villain to the former cinema , the way for the last installment in the trilogy was set . But while it was obvious Ledger would n’t be seem in the film ( Nolan did n’t even have any wealth of blue-pencil scenes or unused footage to draw from likeStar Wars 9does withCarrie Fisher ) , there rest a question mark over whether or notThe Dark Knight Riseswould somehow call the Joker ’s destiny indirectly .
at long last , the threequel did not reference the Joker ’s state of affairs in any meaningful room and in a 2012 interview withEmpire , Christopher Nolanstated his reason for doing so . The theater director powerfully feel that leaving the Joker ’s story contained withinThe Dark Knightand not boom upon it after Heath Ledger ’s going was the correct way to honor the thespian and his laurels - gain purpose , and fans are leave to arrogate the criminal remains incarcerated .
While the theatrical interpretation ofThe Dark Knight Risesmay have refrain from continuing Joker ’s story , the film ’s novelisation did reveal a niggling about his post - The Dark Knightlife . According to the book , the Dent Act result in swathes of malefactor that had escaped harsher time by plead insanity being move fromArkham Asylumto Blackgate . As the only really harebrained yardbird , however , the Joker remained in the mental mental hospital as its only patient role , but this version of the story also open up the possibility of the villain escaping . While certainly a deviation from Nolan ’s original design , these fresh development work within the context of a novel that was write in the knowledge that there would not be a follow - up , and free the Joker back out into the streets of Gotham makes sentience in context of widerBatmancanon .
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