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OPINION
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TDK Speculation Time!
Author: Cary Ashby Monday July 9, 2007 It's speculation time. And why not? That's really all we can do as we wait for the 2008 premiere of THE DARK KNIGHT. Many of us, I bet, have spent time wondering what exactly director Chris Nolan and actor Heath Ledger have up their sleeves for The Joker. All we've heard from Ledger is that he promises the villain will be "sinister" and quite different from previous onscreen versions. We've already gotten a very small taste of that with the character's online partial unveiling. Nolan also has been credited with saying he plans on using BATMAN #1, ("The Joker"), BATMAN #251 ("The Joker's Five-Way Revenge") and the graphic novel THE KILLING JOKE as inspirations for the Clown Prince of Crime in the TDK script. (Yours truly will have a review of issue 251 and other Joker tales in the classics comics portion of BOF sometime soon I hope.) So let's assume Nolan, his brother and Goyer used the first issue of BATMAN for a large part of how to present The Joker in TDK. THE COMIC: Within the first 11 panels, The Joker has struck fear into and murdered his first victim -- and amazingly, the Clown Prince of Crime doesn't appear officially in the story until a half-page later. That, my fellow BOFers, is the power of the greatest comic book villain ever. TDK POSSIBILITY: Establishing The Joker as a murderer in the film is a no-brainer. Doing so - or at least showing the villain to have little regard for life, with Batman already behind in stopping this madman, -- early in TDK gives the audience plenty of reasons to root against him. More importantly, I firmly believe Nolan will wait as long as possibly - probably halfway through the film -- before giving us "The Big Reveal." Seeing The Joker for the first time will be worth the wait. Think the BATMAN BEGINS warehouse scene, but more dramatic and with an even bigger payoff. Nolan will tease us until we can't stand it. THE COMIC: The story starts with The Joker in a droning "toneless voice" somehow taking over the radio airwaves to announce his first caper - stealing the Claridge Diamond. TDK POSSIBILITY: There's no way Ledger's Joker will use the radio to announce his crimes. Considering the Clown Prince of Crime traditionally has taunted the Batman in the comics with his mayhem before it happens leads me to believe we'll see some of that onscreen. I'm looking for something more high-tech than radio, maybe even more than TV: the Internet or text messaging, even. Gordon, in BEGINS already said The Joker has a flair for the dramatic. It's doubtful The Joker will be simply a thief. On the other hand, the mid-April filming in Chicago of a scene involving the Gotham National Bank makes me conclude that the villain doesn't avoid armed robberies. Again, Gordon told the Batman as much at the end of BEGINS. THE COMIC: By the time the readers are introduced to poor Henry Claridge, the millionaire is just a mess. He practically begs Gotham's finest to protect him from this unseen menace. Police form "an inflexible cordon . . . about the doomed man," but the local authorities' protection does nothing. Claridge is panic-stricken and two panels later, he meets his demise. The only evidence of The Joker is the victim's hideous death grin and a glassy stare. TDK POSSIBILITY: Imagine the community's paranoia and the frustration of Gotham City DA Harvey Dent and the police -- not to mention The Batman and Gordon -- if The Joker kills a high profile Gothamite without being in the same place as his victim. Think of the creepy pacing Nolan could employ while the audience (and the victim) waits for The Joker to strike in a most unexpected way. I expect the judge from BEGINS to take a dirt nap. Re-read BATMAN #1, if you doubt me! I wouldn't be surprised if The Joker starts knocking off mob bosses in order to take control of the Gotham underworld (like THE LONG HALLOWEEN or the animated film MASK OF THE PHANTASM). We recently learned Michael Jai White is playing a Gamble, a mob boss competing with Eric Roberts' Sal Maroni for control of the Gotham underworld. Picking off crime lords and judges one by one would create just the right kind of mayhem for which The Joker is infamous in the comics. And The Joker death grin? Brrr! THE COMIC: Readers get their first glimpse of the villain (not counting the title page) on page three. Ironically, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson choose to depict The Joker, known for his psychotic smile, looking quite grim. And, to this day, that image of The Joker pondering his next move remains one of the most chilling images in comics. TDK POSSIBILITY: This is roughly a third of the way through the story, so expect to wait for a while to see The Joker in his full glory. If Nolan, Ledger and the makeup crew don't blow me away and creep me out, I'm going to be pissed. THE COMIC: It's interesting how much the Clown Prince of Crime dominates the story. Ronkers dies a ghastly death in the third full page and our protagonists, the Dynamic Duo, don't appear for the first time until the middle of the fourth page. TDK POSSIBILITY: There will be NO Robin. Take that to the bank. As far as The Joker dominating the story, we may feel his presence throughout TDK (as we did with Ra's al Ghul in BEGINS), but the film is called "The Dark Knight" after all. THE COMIC: By the time the Batman confronts The Joker and his thugs, I started noticing two themes emerging that continue through each of their later confrontations. First, The Dark Knight is reacting to The Joker's murdering spree (two people are dead by the time the hero appears) and secondly, The Joker becomes frustrated in not being able to kill off/defeat the Batman. TDK POSSIBILITY: I don't doubt the Batman will have his hands full trying to figure out The Joker's M.O. and next move(s). But we can hope our hero is being proactive in stopping the villain's crime spree. This is the perfect opportunity for the TDK writers to FINALLY show off Bruce Wayne's detective skills that we've been clamoring for. THE COMIC: In their slugfest on a bridge, The Joker hits the Batman, saying, "I'm going to kill you!" And when the hero doesn't go down, The Joker follows that with a kick to the head and says, "Blast you! Fall!" TDK POSSIBILITY: I'd love to see the Caped Crusader slug it out a couple times with an enraged Clown Prince of Crime, who gets away before the final showdown. The Batman has to at least put the smack down on a butt-load of The Joker's thugs before the finale. And I hope the TDK fights aren't edited as tightly as BEGINS. Those scenes established how much Bruce Wayne had learned as a ninja student and what it's like to be attacked by The Bat. Now, I hope Nolan will show off the Batman as the world's greatest hand-to-hand fighter. THE COMIC: Readers should be nearly breathless by the time they are through the rest of the tale: The Joker has escaped, killed off a judge (dressed as a police officer, no less!), kidnapped Robin (whose presence is utterly pointless) and almost falls to his death. And keep in mind "The Joker" is only 12 pages long! TDK POSSIBILITY: Goyer and Christian Bale have said they've outdone themselves with the sequel. The audience doesn't have to worry with all the back-story and set-up we had in BEGINS. There'll be plenty of dramatic moments, but TDK will be one hell of a thrill ride -- guaranteed. I'm looking for a well paced 2 ½ hour cinematic experience. I can't help but have this nagging feeling The Joker will kidnap and/or do something worse to Rachel than did to Barbara Gordon in THE KILLING JOKE. A bad choice, IMO, because it makes her a simple damsel in distress. Hopefully Nolan will do something less cliché-ish. THE COMIC: In the closing panels, fans witness The Batman doing what comes natural to all heroes -- saving a person's life. In this case, it's The Joker's. TDK POSSIBILITY: The philosophy behind this act of saving the villain from certain death, while completely different from The Bat-Man's first appearance in the comics (and even the BEGINS finale), is what continues to make the Batman such an outstanding character. "You're too valuable a prize to lose," The Batman tells The Joker in BATMAN #1. That one statement not only defines The Dark Knight, but it epitomizes the stark contrast between the characters. No life is sacred to a homicidal maniac like The Joker. As much as the villain has frustrated him, The Batman knows that human life -- even the one belonging to this killer and kidnapper -- is precious. Remember Goyer said, months before BEGINS was even released, that his outline had the Batman capturing, but not killing, The Joker in TDK. He's supposed to go on trial in the third one. And guess who would be the prosecutor? That's right, Harvey Dent -- whose facial disfigurement leads to him calling himself “Two Face.” "The Joker" and "The Dark Knight" - the titles say it all.
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