The Heath Ledger Joker Deserves A Proper Ending
Batman fans argue all the time over which onscreen Joker is the best. One thing we can all agree on though, is the most tragic portrayal belongs to Heath Ledger. Sadly, the young actor passed away shortly after turning in a performance for the ages. And while I understand Christopher Nolan’s reluctance to recast the part, Heath Ledger’s Joker still deserves a proper ending.
It Can Be Done Without Recasting The Part
I’m not suggesting Nolan make another Batman movie and recast Ledger. That ship has sailed. But a comic book or animated film set in the Dark Knight universe would at least give the fans closure.
It’s been 16 years since Heath Ledger’s tenure as the Joker came to a tragic end. Long enough that there’s probably a section of the internet that now considers the actor’s portrayal to be overrated.
But those of us who saw The Dark Knight in the theater remember just how revolutionary Ledger’s Joker felt.
Ledger’s Joker Was Like Nothing We’d Seen Before
Heath Ledger made the Joker into a chaotic anarchist hellbent on putting an end to Batman’s attempts to impose order on Gotham.
Gone was the rictus grin plastered on the face of Jack Nicholson’s Joker. In its place was the so-called “Glasgow Grin,” of Ledger’s Joker. A smile defined by the scars that remain after one’s face is sliced open from ear to ear.
It’s this unique take on the Clown Prince of Crime that cemented Heath Ledger’s place as the Joker to end all Jokers—at least as far as live-action is concerned.
It’s also why his character deserves to have his story finished up once and for all. And not in the copout way the novelization of The Dark Knight Rises handled it.
The Dark Knight Rises
Unlike the film, which never acknowledges the Joker whatsoever, The Dark Knight Rises book at least attempts to explain his absence, albeit weakly. Basically, author Greg Cox describes the Joker’s whereabouts as he kinda, sorta, might be rotting away in Arkham….maybe?
I personally think Heath Ledger’s version of the Joker deserves a more definitive ending than “Or perhaps he had escaped. Nobody was really sure.”
Especially since every other iteration of the Joker besides Heath Ledger’s has gotten a proper ending. Nicholson’s Joker died falling off a roof.
The Batman The Animated Series Joker was murdered by a brainwashed Tim Drake. Arkham Joker died of the Titan Disease, and so on.
He Needs A Better Ending
It’s particularly sad when you realize that one of Heath Ledger’s last lines as the Joker before the Dark Knight ends is, “I think you and I are destined to do this forever.”
A character like Ledger’s Joker needs to go out in a blaze of glory. One of the cruelest endings I can think of for the character is one where he’s just forgotten.
That’s why DC should commission a comic book similar to Batman ’89 that would give Heath Ledger’s Joker a respectable end to his story.
The madman was fighting Batman for the soul of Gotham itself. As fans we deserve to see what happened when the city proved to be less corruptable than the Joker first thought. How does he retaliate?
Maybe We Could See What Nolan Had Planned
Maybe the comic could take a page from The Dark Knight Returns and show us a Joker who goes practically comatose when he hears that Batman has retired.
He could perk up again when he hears that Bane brought the Dark Knight out of retirement. Maybe the comic can show Heath Ledger’s Joker finally goading Batman into killing him at the end.
Even better, what if DC teamed up with Nolan to make a graphic novel of the movie Nolan had originally envisioned as the end of his trilogy?
As great as Tom Hardy was as Bane, I would love to see the story play out with Heath Ledger’s Joker the way it was planned before the actor’s untimely end.
No matter how they handle it, one thing is for sure: Heath Ledger’s Joker deserves a proper ending, and DC should give it to him.
