Heath Ledger has been cast as the Joker in the new Batman film

Yeah. Let’s examine that for a second, shall we?

In the leadup to this announcement, fan speculation on the internet has been rife as to who would play the Clown Prince of Crime. Geeks crawled from their parents basements everywhere, slapping their fingers against the keyboards in frantic, slightly smelly, fits of guessing. They even made shortlists, some which were retarded, some which were spot-on. They threw around names like Tim Roth-

Paul Bettany

And even Adrien Brody

All three of these guys are great actors, well respected by critics, contemporaries and fans, and above all else, they LOOK like the Joker. I don’t know about you, but the physicality of the role is a big part of what will make or break it for me. The Joker is whip-thin, all angles and sharp edges. He’s spiky-

Now, some out there are saying, “what about Jack Nicholson? He was a sack of lard when he played the Joker in Tim Burton’s Batman back in 89. He did alright!”

Well, I agree with you, up to a point. Nicholson was a sack of lard

Was he good? Yeah, he was good. He’s Jack Nicholson, he was basically born to play that role. But the physicality was off. It was a wrong note in anotherwise…well, I won’t say great film, but it was a damn good effort.

Batman Begins, though, WAS great film. I would go so far as to say it is the best Superhero movie ever made. I am definitely including the original Superman in that definition, by the way. The greatest problem this creates for the newly dubbed The Dark Knight is trying to live up to its predeccessor. Luckily, almost the exact production team is back to make this new film. Christopher Nolan is directing, Goyer and Nolan have written a script, and Bale is back as Bats. But Heath Ledger?

Heath Ledger??

HEATH FUCKING LEDGER??

Has he got the acting chops to pull this off? Maybe. He’s a hit-and-miss kind of guy. Sometimes he’s great, sometimes he’s bad. Often when he’s mis-cast. Mind you, Nolan cast him. Christopher Nolan, the man behind Batman Begins sat down and said “this guy is my Joker”.

After Begins, I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I’ll trust him. But man, Ledger, and the film itself, had better ROCK. What’s really going to try my patience is all the renewed Brokeback Mountain Jokes you know are coming. I give it within a month of the film’s release before some idiot, web based or on TV, has a Brokeback parody with Bats and the Joker. See if I’m wrong.

Now that the Joker is set in stone, I’m really interested to see who gets to play Harvey Dent in this one, and therefore gets to play Two-Face in the third film. Also, there’s new speculation starting up about a THIRD villain who might appear- The Penguin. The front runner by a long margin?

Phillip Seymour Hoffman

Now THRE’S a casting decision I can get behind.