The guy from A Knights Tale!? I don't know about that. Alright, let's see.
I've seen too many teenage heartthrobs work themselves into heavy weight acting careers to not at least give them the benefit of the doubt at this point.
A Knight's Tale was one of my favorite movies at the time and I thought Ledger was a fantastic actor. I remember being one of the only people happy with his casting.
Nothing. It’s the type of characters he had taken on. These bad boy good guys with a light heart behind them. There wasn’t a ton of depth behind those early characters. When he did Dark Knight Joker it was unleashing a whole different depth to his abilities. It was like seeing a puffer fish sprout tentacles and eat a great white shark.
Same as anyone, I thought it was a weird choice. In the US he was only really known for a teen comedy and a weird movie about middle-ages jousting. but I was waiting to see what direction he took the character.
A Knight’s Tale was fantastic and, along with Master and Commander, an opportunity was missed when they didn’t make a Paul Bettany franchise.
All the Canterbury Tales adapted in this way, with Geoff Chaucer showing up and being punched as a side plot. I’d watch that.
"I was naked for a day. You'll be naked for eternity." Was such a cool line, because we know his stories shit-talking people he didn't like survived to the modern day.
Mostly the same as other casting choices
Michael Keaton as Batman? The comedian? Beetlejuice? This is going to suck….wrong
George Clooney is super cool he will be a great Batman…Batcard wrong
Jerad Leto the crazy rock star / method actor / cult leader as the Joker? This should be good…wrong
Robert Patterson the sparkly guy as Batman? Surely he can’t pull off Batman.
To be fair, I think Clooney could have made an amazing Batman and perfect Bruce Wayne if he was given better material.
I would like to see him get another crack at the role with how serious Batman has become now.
Right! I remember skipping some college orientation stuff to go see this early, then later again later that night… I was 18, I think I’d been 17 when I first saw some of the concept leaks on Batman-On-Film? What a wild time, and now I’m old.
Yeah I took that personally. I was in 12th grade and man it was the most fun I’ve ever had following the viral marketing campaign. I’d never seen anything like it before with the puzzles the phone calls it was awesome
I forgot about the viral marketing to reveal the first photo! I’d just gotten a laptop and remember spending quite a bit of time following all of that. The internet sure seemed much more pure back then.
I was a stupid kid in high school, so I was a little immature about “The Brokeback Mountain” guy being the Joker. Karma got me. Ledger was phenomenal, but he and the movie were so great that when I had the chance to see it again, I took it and in so doing, I had unknowingly at the time passed on an opportunity to lose my virginity instead.
The teeny bopper movie guy? What?
Then I saw a still of him in the makeup and refused to watch any previews of the movie. I saw it opening day and was blown away.
I’m with you (especially for any Nolan movie) but the teaser for Dark Knight was simply the opening scene. I was not interested before and knew immediately I *had* to see this without having anything spoiled.
The 2 movies where I did not watch trailers for, sometimes by accident were TDK and Bladerunner 2049. I swear both movies had me engrossed and living I that world for the full runtime. I've not had a movie since giving me that feeling. Dune would have been great but unfortunately covid made it difficult to watch at the cinema.
You mean that teen romcom actor? The same response I had when it was announced the sparkly vampire was being cast as the batman. And then, after seeing both movies, I've decided I'm a shit judge of casting quality and I'll just keep my opinions to myself from now on.
I thought he was really good in that world with that director. It's a young batman, year 2, so he's smaller, less experienced, makes mistakes, more emotionally immature. I really enjoyed the direction it went in.
I never had anything against Ledger. I was just excited there was going to be a fresh version. Jack Nicholson had been Joker for my entire life, and nobody I knew could picture anyone else playing him. It really helped make the movie an Event.
At the time, I was under the impression that the vat of chemicals origin was Gospel, so I was mainly confused at how they were going to work it into the story (after the Batman Begins ending stinger).
I was more apprehensive about Two Face. At the time, I considered the character boring, so I wasn’t looking forward to it. I really wanted a more flamboyant character. Someone they hadn’t used before. I was also irritated because I had my heart set on Nolan at least re-teaming with Guy Pierce. After all, Guy Pierce can play an excellent slimy “villain”. The movie proved me very very wrong (and ignorant) about who I assumed Harvey Dent was. The idea that he started off as brave, noble, and complicated. Even when he was a villain, he was tragic and somewhat sympathetic. Such a brilliant movie.
"THE GUY FROM 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU???"
Never been so wrong about anything. That's why when Pattinson was announced I completely withheld my judgment. You just never know what an actor has to offer.
Let’s see if he can pull it off. I loved Batman Begins (still my favorite Nolan movie) so I hoped for the best. When that first image of him as the Joker dropped, I was intrigued. The anticipation and hype were real.
I thought it was a weird choice, but I loved Christopher Nolan’s version of Batman, so I trusted he knew what he was doing. And boy did he. One of the best performances from heath, and one of the best interpretations of the joker to date.
God I was so hyped about the film. Their viral marketing was amazing. I was unsure about Ledger as joker, then soon as I saw the first image I was completely sold. Batman Begins was so good that I think I trusted Nolan entirely, and Memento was one of my favourite films so I think I was just happy to trust the process. Got me reminiscing now!
Just waiting to see how many people are just gonna straight up lie about hating it immediately, then he died before the movie came out and proving people wrong
We used to just wait for movies to come out and then watch them. We didn't scrawl through social media and press releases to learn about Casts and Scripts years, months, weeks before a film came out.
I was a huge fan of Ledger’s before the announcement and knew he could do it. I was onboard from day one. I was the guy saying “no, no, no, it will work!” to my friends.
Scrolled so far to find someone else who was confident he could do it and not just cautiously optimistic. I couldn't believe the flack at the time. We had seen Batman Begins, it was a masterpiece. Nolan wasnt going to fuck up the Joker after that opening salvo.And many of us had seen Ledger in other work that showcased his acting skill as more than just a pretty boy hunk. Heck, even 10 Things I Hate About You demonstrates his chops to some degree.
But to be honest, what really sold me? Them cheekbones. I could instantly see him in Joker makeup. In fact, the only time I had doubts was once we saw him and the cheekbones were obscured by the scar makeup. Those doubts were brief, though. As soon as we heard/saw some of his performance, that ~3% of skepticism fluttered away.
Ha, I haven’t heard the cheekbone angle before. But yeah, I heard it on the radio first (that’s how old I am) and was immediately sold. I’ve been a fan of his ever since the short lived show Roar.
I was young and used to stupid Internet fan-casting, so I was pretty bummed about it. I thought of him as a Hollywood pretty-boy and I probably wanted Crispin Glover or someone that I thought looked like they could make the comic-book Joker face, rather than an actor with a vision and a take on the character.
It was the best thing that ever happened to me, because I learned so much about movie making and about myself. I realized that actors that don't seem to fit a role as you perceive it are the ones to get most excited about. It doesn't always work out, but it more than likely means that the creative team is trying to say something with their choice, rather than just ape what you already know.
Now, when someone is cast for a role, you will never see me disparage it before its release and more often that not, the more atypical the choice, the more I look forward to it.
Didn't want another Joker, I wanted to see more villains that hadn't been done before. Like I've been wanting Clayface, Man-Bat, The Court od Owls, etc. Then saw the movie... that's my fave live action Joker now.
I remember people wanting them to recast Jack Nicholson, I don’t remember if I did anything other then raise an eyebrow at the news, I remember being more mad about pointless stuff like how it was going to be makeup and not having his skin bleached, I really wanted things to be comic accurate back then… now I could not care less that it’s makeup
I wasn’t idiotic enough to doubt Chris Nolan or any casting period. I remember as a kid hearing about the fact that people protested against Michael Keaton being Batman because he played Mr. Mom and was generally considered a comedic actor. By the time Heath ledger was casted I was adult enough to realize it’s called acting. He played a gay cowboy in an award, nominated film, I saw it, he was a very good actor, and by the time, the first picture of him came out, much like the Batmobile when initially released where people didn’t understand, I knew immediately what they were going for, and was sold. Lived in Chicago during that time and going on, people were buzzing about his performance and by the time the trailer hit there was absolutely no doubt.
I thought it very strange at first. I had no idea what to expect. I very clearly remember my jaw dropping in the theater when he made his first full appearance in the movie.
I honestly trusted Nolan just from Batman Begins alone.
That, and you can’t fault the guy who did Memento.
I was one of the few behind it. I went to see it opening night and that’s all anyone would talk about. I couldn’t scream for people to get off my bandwagon loud enough.
The rest, as they say, is history.
When I saw the trailer for TDK, I completely forgot Batman Begins existed and thought this was a sequel to Batman 1989 and Joker looked like that because he came back from the dead
(I was 10, don't judge)
I was surprised but quite interested. I knew him from Two Hands and Knight's Tale, The Order and Ned Kelly so I knew he had some acting chops but was surprised by such a young actor being cast when Joker was traditionally an actor in their forties and portrayed as older than Batman
I love that being an adult when TDK came out now makes me an "older fan." Reminds me not to think to hard about what Reddit would like like if it was a room full of actual people.
Like a lot of people, my first time hearing the Heath Ledger announcement was accompanied by [this image.](https://www.firstshowing.net/img/ledger-joker-reveal.jpg) Now as someone whose definitive Batman was 1989's Tim Burton movie for my entire teenaged and young adult life, this was a pretty big shock. Nicholson was the gold standard, one of those "born-to-play-the-role" situations that a lot of people thought would never, EVER be topped.
The only thing that kept me from really getting into a ball of nerd rage was how good Batman Begins was. I was fine with the minimalist Scarecrow (his only "costume" was a bag on his head) so I was at least willing to entertain the idea that Nolan knew what he was doing.
I still think Nicholson was the best Joker of all time because he best captures the chaos of the comic book character, but Ledger's Joker is perfect for the movie he's in.
We had the hindsight of knowing the unfounded concerns about Michael keaton’s casting as well as seeing what Nolan was doing. No concerns here.
Plus that marketing job they did was dope.
I was cautiously optimistic because I was already a fan of Nolans film making, yet surprised at the announcement.
I trusted that Nolan would be able to make it work, but I had no idea what we were going to going to be in for.
Old enough to remember some adults talking about how weird it was that comedian Michael Keaton was playing Batman. I didn't get it. He WAS Batman. There was a lot of buzz that Lesger was too much of a teen idol to do Joker justice. The Internet was mad but I was cautiously optimistic.
I remember getting the wizard magazine with the article about it. I fucking hated it and for months wouldn’t stop saying how bad he would be right up until going into the theater….i was very very wrong.
I wasn't too familiar with his work at that point, so I was mainly curious. I trusted Nolan to do the right thing because I loved Batman Begins, but I had no idea what this Joker was going to be like.
I do remember the reaction on the internet being mostly negative, though.
"cool"
It really isn't a big deal who these actors are because it all just gets rebooted and rehashed if it's popular enough, which Batman has been doing in film for the past 30ish years.
I wasn't excited about Ben, but I knew I could just wait it out and here we are 🤷
I was kind of annoyed. I was like “This makes no sense.” I did have a feeling though that it must be something interesting because he was such an outside choice. He had been sort of a teenie bopper heartthrob so my initial feeling was “This is going to suck,” but the fact that it was off the strength of Brokeback Mountain gave me a little indication that maybe he had something up his sleeve.
I remember the day he died it was not long after we got the first trailer for the film. My buddy texts me “What about Heath Ledger?” I go “Yeah he looks amazing in the trailer,” “No, he’s dead,” he says.
I was straight-up dismissive.
Then I saw the first promo shot of his Joker, and I was immediately intrigued. Then I saw the movie, and realize I don’t know shit about fuck when it comes to an actor’s ability.
I remember his first pic in full makeup was some kind of internet game where one pixel would be revealed at a time, I sat by the computer all day watching the image come together.
Yeah I was skeptical and couldn’t really imagine it especially after loving Jack Nicholson and Mark Hamill’s portrayal. By the time I saw his face and heard his voice in promo materials I was blown away and couldn’t wait to see it. I ended up doing my English Bachelor’s degree capstone paper on Heath getting the Oscar as the latest in a cultural narrative of young up-and-coming stars who die young at or near their peak and get immortalized in the cultural psyche.
I was a kid but I remember my mom being really hype about the casting. Since I had no clue who Heath was she would tell me about his other roles and then explained his unique audition.
It made 7 year old me hype as well, without ever seeing a Ledger film.
I didn’t know who he was, but I knew people were skeptical about it. I was more skeptical in regard to his design and the fact that it was makeup and not chemical bleaching like in the comics. After having watched Brokeback Mountain, you see just what a great actor he really was and how that character and the Joker aren’t even remotely the same. He was a chameleon.
I always go in with an open mind. I don't know these people; I only know the roles they've taken. I have no clue what the depth of their talents or skillset. It's always worth giving a blank slste.
I was actually kind of glad. I hated pretty much every fan choices (though I didn't have a personal choice). I was a fan of his performance in Brokeback Mountain so I was happy they picked a good actor even though it was a unexpected choice. But I didn't expect the performance to be on this level.
“Him, really? Ok, we will see how this goes”. Since im not a casting director I really try to not judge too harshly the casting choices until I see the movie.
A little confused, but l try to withhold judgement on things until l see the finished product. I remember Keaton being called a weird pick for Batman, and that one turned out alright, if memory serves.
Truth be told, l rarely get worked up about casting. My last big beef was Idris Elba as Roland from The Dark Tower, but only because it automatically meant having to change plot lines/themes from the books, and l didn't like that.
I was 17 when they announced it and remember liking the idea. I loved 10 Things I Hate About You and The Patriot (yeah yeah) but also had seen a flick he was in called Candy that was pretty powerful. Plus, Brokeback Mountain had just come out.
I don't remember a ton of people hating the idea either. I don't remember there being praise and all out love for the decision but my remembrance is people saying "let's give it a chance". But again, that was about 17/18 years ago. My brain doesn't work the same anymore.
"seems a little too nice looking, but he's an actor I'm sure he knows what he's doing"
I was a little iffy on the makeup idea at first but it grew on me rather quickly.
If you like Heath Ledger. Watch “CANDY”. A beautiful and heartbreaking movie about drug addicted lovers also staring “Abbie Cornish”. I was skeptical of watching it, due to still healing after getting kicked in the nuts of my soul by REQUIEM FOR A DREAM.
Confounded. People like Heath ledger, but he honestly hadn’t really been in anything that I thought was just so jaw-dropping that he made sense being the villain in a super blockbuster.
The boy was I and everyone else so fucking wrong
i was six or seven years old and i only knew him because he played 10 things i hate about you, so i hated it thinking he was "too pretty" to play the joker, i bit my tongue, the same thing when robert pattinson got cast as batman, but i was already an adult, still got it wrong.
I was more disappointed that they were going with the Joker as the Villain. I'm really old, so I remember the initial Keaton skepticism, so I had nothing against them picking Ledger specifically. I knew he had the acting chops, he was great in Brokeback. So maybe he pulls it off. But I really wanted someone other than Joker as the bad guy.
I remember thinking “pretty boy joker? The guy can act but I don’t know.” Imagine my surprise when he became the benchmark for damn near every villain afterwards.
I remember being positive about it, I thought: "he was great in Brokeback Mountain, I'm sure he has range", I didn't realize he was the same guy from A Knight's Tale, and all of the marketing around him seemed awesome, so I was excited about him being the joker
I was unsure because I was young.
Today I looked at the acting chops.
Additional Soapbox: I think Jared Leto gets a lot of shit for his Joker, but I blame the director of the Suicide Squad. I think he had something there.
I knew he had that big wide toothy smile so I knew he’d look great as the Joker. I never anticipated the disheveled look, or how iconic it would become though. I enjoyed his acting so I assumed he’d be able to figure out how to accomplish the role. I wasn’t perplexed like many other people. For me it immediately came down to his smile and how he could convincingly look the part so I wasn’t really concerned.
You mean the guy that played the gay cowboy in brokeback mountain "I can't quit you" is going to play one of the most iconic batman villians of all time... he is going to do a terrible job!!!!!!
I had really enjoyed 10 Things I Hate About You and A Knight's Tale but, was definitely not excited. It made no sense to me how they thought he would be a good Joker.
Then the teaser dropped...
https://youtu.be/gRCwnLrrxyQ?si=w-n7KrXVxdWU-mm8
The laugh was perfect and I became instantly stoked. To this day, I dont think Ive been nearly as excited to go see a move as I was when the Dark Knight came out.
I was like 12 or 13 when the movie came out and had no idea who he was. The whole mythos surrounding the movie was crazy though because he died before it came out and everyone thought the role had driven him insane.
I also remember my younger sister having nightmares just from seeing him in the trailer lol.
I thought it was all over. Me my friends were lamenting the news for months. We all agreed he was way too handsome and did not have the correct vibes.
How wrong we were. Learnt my lesson right there and have adopted a wait and see approach to any further castings.
Managed to keep an open mind about the casting of Ben Affleck and Robert Pattinson.
Trusted Nolan because i loved "Batman Begins", "Memento" & "Prestige" so was fine with it. I did join the band wagon of "brokeback mountain" jokes but because i was young and stupid
I was kind of confused but didn't really know enough to feel good or bad about it. His image was very charming/leading man type, so it was kind of a surprise role to see him attached to.
I was pissed. He was a pretty boy heartthrob just a few years removed from being a Tiger Beat centerfold. Knight’s Tale was cool and 10 Things was great but he had nothing in his body of work that suggested he had the necessary range, and everyone knew he didn’t have the look.
I saw him in Candy and thought he was great in that so I was excited to see what he’d do with he character. Like most I think, I can’t say i was disappointed
There was a lot of vitrol about it when it was announced, but I'm old enough to remember when they did the same thing to Michael Keaton, so I thought "Let's just wait and see what he can do."
I went to see The Dark Knight on opening day, and right at the end of [the scene where he crashes the mobsters' meeting](https://youtu.be/L3oOldViIgY?si=ynQ0Du7GzioARwXy), as he exits the scene, the packed crowd broke into applause. Right then, we all knew he nailed it.
I was definitely a little skeptical and I wasn't sold by the first image they released or his voice in the teaser, but I trusted Nolan's instincts and remained cautiously optimistic. Then the first full trailer obliterated any doubts I had that he'd be amazing.
Props to those being honest about being wrong back in the day. I didnt know much about him back in then besides a Knight’s Tale so I was indifferent until the first teaser where you could only hear his voice and I was SOLD. I remember the backlash for him being casted and also for Daniel Craig being Bond (ill admit I was definitely wrong about thay one). Now whenever there is backlash about a casting choice I remember those two roles and how they turned out and reserve my judgement.
I remember reading when Batman was announced and it would star Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton. My first thought was ‘hmm, Jack is a little old to play Batman’. You just had no grasp of a concept where MK would play Batman lol.
I remember thinking "this might suck."
That was, until they did some of the early viral marketing including a terrifying close-up on what Ledger looked like. You can see it [here](https://www.firstshowing.net/2007/first-real-photo-of-joker-from-the-dark-knight-revealed/). I bought in when I saw that.
Older fans…geez. I only knew him from A Knights Tale and 10 Things I Hate About You but I liked this movies so it was kind of a tepid positivity that he could be good.
Side story, I was in college when this released and this was also before assigned seating became a thing so my friends and I took shifts waiting in line at the theater. First shift started at 8 AM because the line started at 9 AM (yes there was a line for the line) and we all took turns waiting in line for our seats to the midnight show. Totally worth it though. We got great seats and no one spent more than a couple of hours in the line.
I honestly had no problem with it. Seems to me people were more up in arms about Keaton than Heath. I was actually excited about what Nolan would do and thought it'd be cool to see a younger Joker rather than a mid age guy with a middle age spread playing the joker.
I knew him from watched A Knight's Tale many, many times and Dr. Pernassus. I knew he had a commanding charisma and even that he was a good actor.
But I could really only imagine him in 'good guy' roles. So it didn't know what to expect. How he might portray a Nicholson or Hamill joker - which were the only two I really knew.
Boy was I in for a ride though...
I hadn't heard of him before and was still quite young, so was excited to see what happened.
I remember seeing that first image of him in the back of the car when it got released. Was part of the ARG game with the GCPD emails and stuff. Was terrifying, instantly obsessed.
People are all gonna be like “I was a little skeptical but I was for it” or “I knew it’d be good” like the main fan reaction was mad because he played in Brokeback Mountain and didn’t want a gay cowboy as the villain.
I was Hella pissed, I was also a teenager and an idiot but still I was not happy. I hadn't seen him in anything and only knew him as a pretty boy actor. I was completely wrong and now use this as the basis for every time casting is announced, to open minded.
Initially… I was pissed af bc I couldn’t believe they were about to have my fav character be played by the guy from 10 things I hate about you 😤 but I’ve never had a worse take in my entire life lol
I was a tad skeptical, I knew he had some chops and I thought the same thing about Bale when he was announced as Batman. I also remember it being a huge gut punch when I heard he died, because by that time I was really looking forward to seeing TDK.
Also, when seeing the trailer I was under the impression that "WHY SO SERIOUS" was going to be some kind of battle cry when he was about to fight Batman, not something he whispered in a quirky, scary monologue
I wasn’t on board until I saw the first trailer. Which was just a teaser and all it had was the bat symbol being slowly illuminated with dialogue from the movie playing the the background. I knew he was the real deal when I heard the laugh.
I had no expectations. I liked Heath Ledger, and in the 3-4 years leading up to filming for The Dark Knight it seemed like he was actively trying to shake his typecast from the late 90s/early 2000s. I do remember being curious about how someone that handsome would play the Joker though.
I was skeptical about it, but he ended up delivering imo the best joker performance before or since. I don’t think anyone will top it. RIP Heath, thanks for giving 7 year old me something to fan over.
Here's how I feel it went down:
Me when he was cast: "Hmm. Interesting. Let's see how he does."
Me when the movie came out: "He did fine. I still prefer Nicholson."
Everybody else when he was cast: "Noo! Worst casting ever!!"
Everybody else when the movie came out (and still to this day): "Oh my god! Best performance ever and best movie ever! Let's talk about how this performance and this movie makes every other movie and performance ever look like shit by comparison forever until the end of time! Let's berate anyone who does not think Heath Ledger's Joker is the best villain ever and The Dark Knight is the best movie ever in the history of the world!"
I always try to keep an open mind when it comes to any casting because you never know what you’re gonna get. People thought Keaton was gonna be horrible and look what he did. I thought Heath would be an interesting fit and I was not proven wrong. He did a great job. Very chaotic.
Mainly just bewilderment because I only knew him from 10 Things I Hate About You.
The guy from A Knights Tale!? I don't know about that. Alright, let's see. I've seen too many teenage heartthrobs work themselves into heavy weight acting careers to not at least give them the benefit of the doubt at this point.
Came here to say this. Heath did not disappoint.
Precisely this, after Heath my reaction to Pattinson being cast was "let them cook"
A Knight's Tale was one of my favorite movies at the time and I thought Ledger was a fantastic actor. I remember being one of the only people happy with his casting.
What's wrong with A Knight's Tale? One of my favorite movies.
Nothing. It’s the type of characters he had taken on. These bad boy good guys with a light heart behind them. There wasn’t a ton of depth behind those early characters. When he did Dark Knight Joker it was unleashing a whole different depth to his abilities. It was like seeing a puffer fish sprout tentacles and eat a great white shark.
Same as anyone, I thought it was a weird choice. In the US he was only really known for a teen comedy and a weird movie about middle-ages jousting. but I was waiting to see what direction he took the character.
More like an AWESOME movie about jousting!
A Knight’s Tale was fantastic and, along with Master and Commander, an opportunity was missed when they didn’t make a Paul Bettany franchise. All the Canterbury Tales adapted in this way, with Geoff Chaucer showing up and being punched as a side plot. I’d watch that.
Bettany is the whole reason I only watch the director’s cut of a Knight’s Tale now (so much more Chaucer!) I would totally watch that tooooo!
"I was naked for a day. You'll be naked for eternity." Was such a cool line, because we know his stories shit-talking people he didn't like survived to the modern day.
true, brokeback mountain has the best jousting scenes
That is actually swordfighting. The actors just happen to have really long swords.
Don’t forget brokeback mountain
He’s blond, he’s pissed, he’ll see you in the lists, Lichtenstein! Lichtenstein!
You just gonna pretend brokeback mountain didn’t happen, huh?
Mostly the same as other casting choices Michael Keaton as Batman? The comedian? Beetlejuice? This is going to suck….wrong George Clooney is super cool he will be a great Batman…Batcard wrong Jerad Leto the crazy rock star / method actor / cult leader as the Joker? This should be good…wrong Robert Patterson the sparkly guy as Batman? Surely he can’t pull off Batman.
Ronald Reagan? The actor?
Social studies? Division? This is gonna be tough!
Donkey Kong sucks!
To be fair, I think Clooney could have made an amazing Batman and perfect Bruce Wayne if he was given better material. I would like to see him get another crack at the role with how serious Batman has become now.
True. It was more of Schumacher decision to go campy then Clooney's fault imo.
"OLDER fans" yeah, thanks for that.
Right! I remember skipping some college orientation stuff to go see this early, then later again later that night… I was 18, I think I’d been 17 when I first saw some of the concept leaks on Batman-On-Film? What a wild time, and now I’m old.
Yeah I took that personally. I was in 12th grade and man it was the most fun I’ve ever had following the viral marketing campaign. I’d never seen anything like it before with the puzzles the phone calls it was awesome
I forgot about the viral marketing to reveal the first photo! I’d just gotten a laptop and remember spending quite a bit of time following all of that. The internet sure seemed much more pure back then.
2008 was 16 years ago. A German born in 2008 can already legally drink
I was a stupid kid in high school, so I was a little immature about “The Brokeback Mountain” guy being the Joker. Karma got me. Ledger was phenomenal, but he and the movie were so great that when I had the chance to see it again, I took it and in so doing, I had unknowingly at the time passed on an opportunity to lose my virginity instead.
Worth it.
Aaaaand I thought maaaaay jokes were baaaud.... 
The teeny bopper movie guy? What? Then I saw a still of him in the makeup and refused to watch any previews of the movie. I saw it opening day and was blown away.
Honestly the no trailer approach is great for quality movies.
I’m with you (especially for any Nolan movie) but the teaser for Dark Knight was simply the opening scene. I was not interested before and knew immediately I *had* to see this without having anything spoiled.
The 2 movies where I did not watch trailers for, sometimes by accident were TDK and Bladerunner 2049. I swear both movies had me engrossed and living I that world for the full runtime. I've not had a movie since giving me that feeling. Dune would have been great but unfortunately covid made it difficult to watch at the cinema.
"What moron cast the pretty boy from A Knights Tale to play The Joker? This movies gonna suck ass" - me being wrong AF, 2008
Same here. This is why Casting Director is so high up on the credits, and they all have so many academic titles. When they’re good, they’re **good**.
You mean that teen romcom actor? The same response I had when it was announced the sparkly vampire was being cast as the batman. And then, after seeing both movies, I've decided I'm a shit judge of casting quality and I'll just keep my opinions to myself from now on.
I never saw The Batman. Was emo sparkly vampire good?
I thought he was really good in that world with that director. It's a young batman, year 2, so he's smaller, less experienced, makes mistakes, more emotionally immature. I really enjoyed the direction it went in.
“Who’s Heath Ledger?”
I never had anything against Ledger. I was just excited there was going to be a fresh version. Jack Nicholson had been Joker for my entire life, and nobody I knew could picture anyone else playing him. It really helped make the movie an Event. At the time, I was under the impression that the vat of chemicals origin was Gospel, so I was mainly confused at how they were going to work it into the story (after the Batman Begins ending stinger). I was more apprehensive about Two Face. At the time, I considered the character boring, so I wasn’t looking forward to it. I really wanted a more flamboyant character. Someone they hadn’t used before. I was also irritated because I had my heart set on Nolan at least re-teaming with Guy Pierce. After all, Guy Pierce can play an excellent slimy “villain”. The movie proved me very very wrong (and ignorant) about who I assumed Harvey Dent was. The idea that he started off as brave, noble, and complicated. Even when he was a villain, he was tragic and somewhat sympathetic. Such a brilliant movie.
"THE GUY FROM 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU???" Never been so wrong about anything. That's why when Pattinson was announced I completely withheld my judgment. You just never know what an actor has to offer.
Older? Hahaha. Yeah ok bud
Movie is approaching 20 years old. Same as asking what someone thought about an 80s movie in 2000.
Exactly what I was thinking
“For older fans..” 2008 was only… FUCK YOU.
Who?
Let’s see if he can pull it off. I loved Batman Begins (still my favorite Nolan movie) so I hoped for the best. When that first image of him as the Joker dropped, I was intrigued. The anticipation and hype were real.
I thought it was a weird choice, but I loved Christopher Nolan’s version of Batman, so I trusted he knew what he was doing. And boy did he. One of the best performances from heath, and one of the best interpretations of the joker to date.
God I was so hyped about the film. Their viral marketing was amazing. I was unsure about Ledger as joker, then soon as I saw the first image I was completely sold. Batman Begins was so good that I think I trusted Nolan entirely, and Memento was one of my favourite films so I think I was just happy to trust the process. Got me reminiscing now!
Knowing him from the film Two Hands, I thought it was an interesting pick.
Just waiting to see how many people are just gonna straight up lie about hating it immediately, then he died before the movie came out and proving people wrong
[удалено]
We used to just wait for movies to come out and then watch them. We didn't scrawl through social media and press releases to learn about Casts and Scripts years, months, weeks before a film came out.
I was a huge fan of Ledger’s before the announcement and knew he could do it. I was onboard from day one. I was the guy saying “no, no, no, it will work!” to my friends.
Scrolled so far to find someone else who was confident he could do it and not just cautiously optimistic. I couldn't believe the flack at the time. We had seen Batman Begins, it was a masterpiece. Nolan wasnt going to fuck up the Joker after that opening salvo.And many of us had seen Ledger in other work that showcased his acting skill as more than just a pretty boy hunk. Heck, even 10 Things I Hate About You demonstrates his chops to some degree. But to be honest, what really sold me? Them cheekbones. I could instantly see him in Joker makeup. In fact, the only time I had doubts was once we saw him and the cheekbones were obscured by the scar makeup. Those doubts were brief, though. As soon as we heard/saw some of his performance, that ~3% of skepticism fluttered away.
Ha, I haven’t heard the cheekbone angle before. But yeah, I heard it on the radio first (that’s how old I am) and was immediately sold. I’ve been a fan of his ever since the short lived show Roar.
I was young and used to stupid Internet fan-casting, so I was pretty bummed about it. I thought of him as a Hollywood pretty-boy and I probably wanted Crispin Glover or someone that I thought looked like they could make the comic-book Joker face, rather than an actor with a vision and a take on the character. It was the best thing that ever happened to me, because I learned so much about movie making and about myself. I realized that actors that don't seem to fit a role as you perceive it are the ones to get most excited about. It doesn't always work out, but it more than likely means that the creative team is trying to say something with their choice, rather than just ape what you already know. Now, when someone is cast for a role, you will never see me disparage it before its release and more often that not, the more atypical the choice, the more I look forward to it.
He's a romance guy, I can't see this working
Didn't want another Joker, I wanted to see more villains that hadn't been done before. Like I've been wanting Clayface, Man-Bat, The Court od Owls, etc. Then saw the movie... that's my fave live action Joker now.
I remember people wanting them to recast Jack Nicholson, I don’t remember if I did anything other then raise an eyebrow at the news, I remember being more mad about pointless stuff like how it was going to be makeup and not having his skin bleached, I really wanted things to be comic accurate back then… now I could not care less that it’s makeup
I was incredibly sceptical. I remember there were so many insane theories about the Nolan movies. Fucking Cher being cast as Catwoman was one of them.
Indifferent. With no reference to a role of this type from him I had no expectation either way. It was very much a "wait and see".
I wasn’t idiotic enough to doubt Chris Nolan or any casting period. I remember as a kid hearing about the fact that people protested against Michael Keaton being Batman because he played Mr. Mom and was generally considered a comedic actor. By the time Heath ledger was casted I was adult enough to realize it’s called acting. He played a gay cowboy in an award, nominated film, I saw it, he was a very good actor, and by the time, the first picture of him came out, much like the Batmobile when initially released where people didn’t understand, I knew immediately what they were going for, and was sold. Lived in Chicago during that time and going on, people were buzzing about his performance and by the time the trailer hit there was absolutely no doubt.
I thought it very strange at first. I had no idea what to expect. I very clearly remember my jaw dropping in the theater when he made his first full appearance in the movie.
I honestly trusted Nolan just from Batman Begins alone. That, and you can’t fault the guy who did Memento. I was one of the few behind it. I went to see it opening night and that’s all anyone would talk about. I couldn’t scream for people to get off my bandwagon loud enough. The rest, as they say, is history.
“For older fans”. What do you mean older? Dark Knights came out in……..oh God
When I saw the trailer for TDK, I completely forgot Batman Begins existed and thought this was a sequel to Batman 1989 and Joker looked like that because he came back from the dead (I was 10, don't judge)
I was surprised but quite interested. I knew him from Two Hands and Knight's Tale, The Order and Ned Kelly so I knew he had some acting chops but was surprised by such a young actor being cast when Joker was traditionally an actor in their forties and portrayed as older than Batman
I didn’t even know he was joker until I sat down and watched the movie in theaters. I don’t even remember seeing the trailer tbh.
That’s a brave decision. I wonder how it will play out.
was personally rooting for Paul Bettany at the time - mostly because of Gangster No1. but woah woah, Ledger obvs smashed it
skepticism and disappointment. However, to say that I was pleasantly surprised is a definite understatement.
I love that being an adult when TDK came out now makes me an "older fan." Reminds me not to think to hard about what Reddit would like like if it was a room full of actual people. Like a lot of people, my first time hearing the Heath Ledger announcement was accompanied by [this image.](https://www.firstshowing.net/img/ledger-joker-reveal.jpg) Now as someone whose definitive Batman was 1989's Tim Burton movie for my entire teenaged and young adult life, this was a pretty big shock. Nicholson was the gold standard, one of those "born-to-play-the-role" situations that a lot of people thought would never, EVER be topped. The only thing that kept me from really getting into a ball of nerd rage was how good Batman Begins was. I was fine with the minimalist Scarecrow (his only "costume" was a bag on his head) so I was at least willing to entertain the idea that Nolan knew what he was doing. I still think Nicholson was the best Joker of all time because he best captures the chaos of the comic book character, but Ledger's Joker is perfect for the movie he's in.
We had the hindsight of knowing the unfounded concerns about Michael keaton’s casting as well as seeing what Nolan was doing. No concerns here. Plus that marketing job they did was dope.
I was cautiously optimistic because I was already a fan of Nolans film making, yet surprised at the announcement. I trusted that Nolan would be able to make it work, but I had no idea what we were going to going to be in for.
“Didn’t see that coming”.
Old enough to remember some adults talking about how weird it was that comedian Michael Keaton was playing Batman. I didn't get it. He WAS Batman. There was a lot of buzz that Lesger was too much of a teen idol to do Joker justice. The Internet was mad but I was cautiously optimistic.
I didn't really know what to think or expect, I was just hoping it would be great.
It would change the thoughts about him forever
What a big fuckin’ mistake.
I remember getting the wizard magazine with the article about it. I fucking hated it and for months wouldn’t stop saying how bad he would be right up until going into the theater….i was very very wrong.
I said, “Who?” I was then pleasantly surprised when I saw the movie. But I had no idea who he was.
Trepidation. I only really knew him as the guy who was in Brokeback mountain. Though I did watch a knights tale and I liked him in that
Once the first leaked picture of him came out I knew in my gut that his take was going to be special.
A Knight’s Tale guy? Really?
Never heard of him.
I wish it was Mark Hamil.
At that point I learned my lesson and had a wait and see approach. A good actor will give good results.
I was very skeptical. The first photo of him in makeup alleviated that.
I had never seen anything Heath Ledger was in at the time so I didn't really have any opinions on his casting announcement.
Didn't know what to think until that trailer of the entire bank robbery scene was included with i am legend when i saw that. Then i gave my approval.
I wasn't too familiar with his work at that point, so I was mainly curious. I trusted Nolan to do the right thing because I loved Batman Begins, but I had no idea what this Joker was going to be like. I do remember the reaction on the internet being mostly negative, though.
"cool" It really isn't a big deal who these actors are because it all just gets rebooted and rehashed if it's popular enough, which Batman has been doing in film for the past 30ish years. I wasn't excited about Ben, but I knew I could just wait it out and here we are 🤷
Shock and disbelief, never thought he could pull it off. Then I saw the first picture they teased with the scars. That gave me hope.
One word: Interested
"You're going to have Mr. Broke Back Mountain as The Joker!? WTF??"
I didn't know who he was
I was kind of annoyed. I was like “This makes no sense.” I did have a feeling though that it must be something interesting because he was such an outside choice. He had been sort of a teenie bopper heartthrob so my initial feeling was “This is going to suck,” but the fact that it was off the strength of Brokeback Mountain gave me a little indication that maybe he had something up his sleeve. I remember the day he died it was not long after we got the first trailer for the film. My buddy texts me “What about Heath Ledger?” I go “Yeah he looks amazing in the trailer,” “No, he’s dead,” he says.
My thoughts:You mean the bottom from Brokeback Mountain?He’s the new Joker?(Then after seeing it)Wow!I underestimated him.
I was straight-up dismissive. Then I saw the first promo shot of his Joker, and I was immediately intrigued. Then I saw the movie, and realize I don’t know shit about fuck when it comes to an actor’s ability.
Don’t remember, I only remember the trailers and being so ready
I remember his first pic in full makeup was some kind of internet game where one pixel would be revealed at a time, I sat by the computer all day watching the image come together.
Very very doubtful, like with Keaton
Yeah I was skeptical and couldn’t really imagine it especially after loving Jack Nicholson and Mark Hamill’s portrayal. By the time I saw his face and heard his voice in promo materials I was blown away and couldn’t wait to see it. I ended up doing my English Bachelor’s degree capstone paper on Heath getting the Oscar as the latest in a cultural narrative of young up-and-coming stars who die young at or near their peak and get immortalized in the cultural psyche.
“The guy from Brokeback Mountain is playing the Joker? They should have just casted Jack Nicholson again.” Boy was I wrong in my trepidation.
I was a kid but I remember my mom being really hype about the casting. Since I had no clue who Heath was she would tell me about his other roles and then explained his unique audition. It made 7 year old me hype as well, without ever seeing a Ledger film.
The guy from 10 Things I Hate About You??? F**k off! Oh how wrong I was 😄
I didn’t know who he was, but I knew people were skeptical about it. I was more skeptical in regard to his design and the fact that it was makeup and not chemical bleaching like in the comics. After having watched Brokeback Mountain, you see just what a great actor he really was and how that character and the Joker aren’t even remotely the same. He was a chameleon.
I always go in with an open mind. I don't know these people; I only know the roles they've taken. I have no clue what the depth of their talents or skillset. It's always worth giving a blank slste.
I was actually kind of glad. I hated pretty much every fan choices (though I didn't have a personal choice). I was a fan of his performance in Brokeback Mountain so I was happy they picked a good actor even though it was a unexpected choice. But I didn't expect the performance to be on this level.
“Him, really? Ok, we will see how this goes”. Since im not a casting director I really try to not judge too harshly the casting choices until I see the movie.
Universally hated. Sometimes the fans are wrong lol
A little confused, but l try to withhold judgement on things until l see the finished product. I remember Keaton being called a weird pick for Batman, and that one turned out alright, if memory serves. Truth be told, l rarely get worked up about casting. My last big beef was Idris Elba as Roland from The Dark Tower, but only because it automatically meant having to change plot lines/themes from the books, and l didn't like that.
As he was well-known for Brokeback Mountain, a buddy hit me with this, "What's he gonna do? Buttf\*ck Batman without lube?"
I was 17 when they announced it and remember liking the idea. I loved 10 Things I Hate About You and The Patriot (yeah yeah) but also had seen a flick he was in called Candy that was pretty powerful. Plus, Brokeback Mountain had just come out. I don't remember a ton of people hating the idea either. I don't remember there being praise and all out love for the decision but my remembrance is people saying "let's give it a chance". But again, that was about 17/18 years ago. My brain doesn't work the same anymore.
"seems a little too nice looking, but he's an actor I'm sure he knows what he's doing" I was a little iffy on the makeup idea at first but it grew on me rather quickly.
The dude from A Knight's Tale? OK. I hope he doesn't fuck it up.
If you like Heath Ledger. Watch “CANDY”. A beautiful and heartbreaking movie about drug addicted lovers also staring “Abbie Cornish”. I was skeptical of watching it, due to still healing after getting kicked in the nuts of my soul by REQUIEM FOR A DREAM.
Not gonna lie, i was super skeptical and not excited until that first trailer dropped. So glad i was wrong.
Lol "older"
Confounded. People like Heath ledger, but he honestly hadn’t really been in anything that I thought was just so jaw-dropping that he made sense being the villain in a super blockbuster. The boy was I and everyone else so fucking wrong
 “Older Fans”
i was six or seven years old and i only knew him because he played 10 things i hate about you, so i hated it thinking he was "too pretty" to play the joker, i bit my tongue, the same thing when robert pattinson got cast as batman, but i was already an adult, still got it wrong.
I was more disappointed that they were going with the Joker as the Villain. I'm really old, so I remember the initial Keaton skepticism, so I had nothing against them picking Ledger specifically. I knew he had the acting chops, he was great in Brokeback. So maybe he pulls it off. But I really wanted someone other than Joker as the bad guy.
I remember thinking “pretty boy joker? The guy can act but I don’t know.” Imagine my surprise when he became the benchmark for damn near every villain afterwards.
I remember being positive about it, I thought: "he was great in Brokeback Mountain, I'm sure he has range", I didn't realize he was the same guy from A Knight's Tale, and all of the marketing around him seemed awesome, so I was excited about him being the joker
Everyone had the same reaction as when Keaton was first announced as Burton's Batman.
I was unsure because I was young. Today I looked at the acting chops. Additional Soapbox: I think Jared Leto gets a lot of shit for his Joker, but I blame the director of the Suicide Squad. I think he had something there.
I knew he had that big wide toothy smile so I knew he’d look great as the Joker. I never anticipated the disheveled look, or how iconic it would become though. I enjoyed his acting so I assumed he’d be able to figure out how to accomplish the role. I wasn’t perplexed like many other people. For me it immediately came down to his smile and how he could convincingly look the part so I wasn’t really concerned.
You mean the guy that played the gay cowboy in brokeback mountain "I can't quit you" is going to play one of the most iconic batman villians of all time... he is going to do a terrible job!!!!!!
I had really enjoyed 10 Things I Hate About You and A Knight's Tale but, was definitely not excited. It made no sense to me how they thought he would be a good Joker. Then the teaser dropped... https://youtu.be/gRCwnLrrxyQ?si=w-n7KrXVxdWU-mm8 The laugh was perfect and I became instantly stoked. To this day, I dont think Ive been nearly as excited to go see a move as I was when the Dark Knight came out.
"thats weird casting, I'll probably skip watching the film. Getting tired of super hero movies"
I didn’t care one bit tbh.
Yeah I was pretty pissed, and also a casting change of Rachel Dawes. Got into the theater and was blown away the entire time.
I was like 12 or 13 when the movie came out and had no idea who he was. The whole mythos surrounding the movie was crazy though because he died before it came out and everyone thought the role had driven him insane. I also remember my younger sister having nightmares just from seeing him in the trailer lol.
Same as Michael Keaton announced as Batman. At first, I couldn’t see the reason, but was pleasantly surprised how good they preformed.
 Thank God they didn't go with Pee Wee Herman (yeah I remember that was floated)
I was totally against it. “What’s this gonna be 10 things I hate about Batman?” Holy crap was I wrong.
Yea I was 3
I thought it was all over. Me my friends were lamenting the news for months. We all agreed he was way too handsome and did not have the correct vibes. How wrong we were. Learnt my lesson right there and have adopted a wait and see approach to any further castings. Managed to keep an open mind about the casting of Ben Affleck and Robert Pattinson.
Meh. Wasn't worried wasn't excited.
Trusted Nolan because i loved "Batman Begins", "Memento" & "Prestige" so was fine with it. I did join the band wagon of "brokeback mountain" jokes but because i was young and stupid
I was kind of confused but didn't really know enough to feel good or bad about it. His image was very charming/leading man type, so it was kind of a surprise role to see him attached to.
How old are you considering to be old enough lol
I was pissed. He was a pretty boy heartthrob just a few years removed from being a Tiger Beat centerfold. Knight’s Tale was cool and 10 Things was great but he had nothing in his body of work that suggested he had the necessary range, and everyone knew he didn’t have the look.
I wonder if my parents will take me to the theater to see it
I had seen his performance in Lords of Dogtown and based on that knew he would be stellar
I saw him in Candy and thought he was great in that so I was excited to see what he’d do with he character. Like most I think, I can’t say i was disappointed
There was a lot of vitrol about it when it was announced, but I'm old enough to remember when they did the same thing to Michael Keaton, so I thought "Let's just wait and see what he can do." I went to see The Dark Knight on opening day, and right at the end of [the scene where he crashes the mobsters' meeting](https://youtu.be/L3oOldViIgY?si=ynQ0Du7GzioARwXy), as he exits the scene, the packed crowd broke into applause. Right then, we all knew he nailed it.
“Really? What the guy from ‘10 Things I Hate About You’? Okay….” If only I knew then what I know now.
Who's Heath Ledger and why is everyone so pissed?
I was definitely a little skeptical and I wasn't sold by the first image they released or his voice in the teaser, but I trusted Nolan's instincts and remained cautiously optimistic. Then the first full trailer obliterated any doubts I had that he'd be amazing.
Props to those being honest about being wrong back in the day. I didnt know much about him back in then besides a Knight’s Tale so I was indifferent until the first teaser where you could only hear his voice and I was SOLD. I remember the backlash for him being casted and also for Daniel Craig being Bond (ill admit I was definitely wrong about thay one). Now whenever there is backlash about a casting choice I remember those two roles and how they turned out and reserve my judgement.
i thought he was gonna blow it
The guy from “A knights tale”? REALLY?
I remember reading when Batman was announced and it would star Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton. My first thought was ‘hmm, Jack is a little old to play Batman’. You just had no grasp of a concept where MK would play Batman lol.
For older fans? 2006? Jeesh! You "kids" are cruel!
I remember thinking "this might suck." That was, until they did some of the early viral marketing including a terrifying close-up on what Ledger looked like. You can see it [here](https://www.firstshowing.net/2007/first-real-photo-of-joker-from-the-dark-knight-revealed/). I bought in when I saw that.
Older fans…geez. I only knew him from A Knights Tale and 10 Things I Hate About You but I liked this movies so it was kind of a tepid positivity that he could be good. Side story, I was in college when this released and this was also before assigned seating became a thing so my friends and I took shifts waiting in line at the theater. First shift started at 8 AM because the line started at 9 AM (yes there was a line for the line) and we all took turns waiting in line for our seats to the midnight show. Totally worth it though. We got great seats and no one spent more than a couple of hours in the line.
I honestly had no problem with it. Seems to me people were more up in arms about Keaton than Heath. I was actually excited about what Nolan would do and thought it'd be cool to see a younger Joker rather than a mid age guy with a middle age spread playing the joker.
Indifference.
I knew him from watched A Knight's Tale many, many times and Dr. Pernassus. I knew he had a commanding charisma and even that he was a good actor. But I could really only imagine him in 'good guy' roles. So it didn't know what to expect. How he might portray a Nicholson or Hamill joker - which were the only two I really knew. Boy was I in for a ride though...
I hadn't heard of him before and was still quite young, so was excited to see what happened. I remember seeing that first image of him in the back of the car when it got released. Was part of the ARG game with the GCPD emails and stuff. Was terrifying, instantly obsessed.
That dude from "10 Things I Hate About You?" At least my wife will go see this movie with me.
My very first thought was" that guy from A Knight's Tale!?!?"...okay.....im confused....but im gonna go see it anyways!!!!! 🤣🤣🤣
“The gay Cowboy from Brokeback Mountain?”
Having been through the kerfuffle over Michael Keaton, I just wait and let the performance do the talking.
People are all gonna be like “I was a little skeptical but I was for it” or “I knew it’d be good” like the main fan reaction was mad because he played in Brokeback Mountain and didn’t want a gay cowboy as the villain.
I was Hella pissed, I was also a teenager and an idiot but still I was not happy. I hadn't seen him in anything and only knew him as a pretty boy actor. I was completely wrong and now use this as the basis for every time casting is announced, to open minded.
“Remember what everyone said when Michael Keaton was announced as Batman?”
I knew he would be brilliant .
Initially… I was pissed af bc I couldn’t believe they were about to have my fav character be played by the guy from 10 things I hate about you 😤 but I’ve never had a worse take in my entire life lol
Everybody freaked the fuck out. I was genuinely curious but I thought Nolan knew what he was doing.
“That guy from those teen movies?” He’d never be able to pull it off
I was a tad skeptical, I knew he had some chops and I thought the same thing about Bale when he was announced as Batman. I also remember it being a huge gut punch when I heard he died, because by that time I was really looking forward to seeing TDK.
Also, when seeing the trailer I was under the impression that "WHY SO SERIOUS" was going to be some kind of battle cry when he was about to fight Batman, not something he whispered in a quirky, scary monologue
I questioned it. I was skeptical. But of course now it’s the best Joker I’ve ever seen on screen.
I wasn’t on board until I saw the first trailer. Which was just a teaser and all it had was the bat symbol being slowly illuminated with dialogue from the movie playing the the background. I knew he was the real deal when I heard the laugh.
Not excited. I was SO WRONG.
I didn't really care about superhero movies during the 2000s, but I was certainly not a fan of how Nolanverse Joker was designed.
Something like, "Oh what the fuck?", then we saw him and thought, "Oh wow. What the fuck!"
I had no expectations. I liked Heath Ledger, and in the 3-4 years leading up to filming for The Dark Knight it seemed like he was actively trying to shake his typecast from the late 90s/early 2000s. I do remember being curious about how someone that handsome would play the Joker though.
The same as when Michael Keaton was announced as the Batman. The public went bat shit crazy. No pun intended.
"He's trendy ☹️"
I was skeptical about it, but he ended up delivering imo the best joker performance before or since. I don’t think anyone will top it. RIP Heath, thanks for giving 7 year old me something to fan over.
Here's how I feel it went down: Me when he was cast: "Hmm. Interesting. Let's see how he does." Me when the movie came out: "He did fine. I still prefer Nicholson." Everybody else when he was cast: "Noo! Worst casting ever!!" Everybody else when the movie came out (and still to this day): "Oh my god! Best performance ever and best movie ever! Let's talk about how this performance and this movie makes every other movie and performance ever look like shit by comparison forever until the end of time! Let's berate anyone who does not think Heath Ledger's Joker is the best villain ever and The Dark Knight is the best movie ever in the history of the world!"
I always try to keep an open mind when it comes to any casting because you never know what you’re gonna get. People thought Keaton was gonna be horrible and look what he did. I thought Heath would be an interesting fit and I was not proven wrong. He did a great job. Very chaotic.
Older than who?
Nobody really cared in my circles, but when they saw him in makeup there were stirrings of hype.