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 09 May 2008 18:12 BST

Ledger to play the Joker 'straight'

Friday, 25 Aug 2006 08:07
Ledger will play the Joker 'straight' says Batman director Christopher Nolan
Hollywood heartthrob Heath Ledger is set to play the Joker in a more serious way than his predecessors, the director of the latest Batman film has claimed.

Christopher Nolan told Mean magazine that the 27-year-old actor intended to show the darker side of Batman's evil arch enemy, following Jack Nicholson's comical take on the character in the 1989 film about the comic book superhero.

Nolan stressed that The Killing Joke, a famous one-off dark comic, had provided a source of inspiration for the role of the Joker in the new Batman film, which is due to open early next year. In the comic, the Joker tries to drive Commissioner Gordon of Gotham City's police force insane, including by shooting his daughter and leaving her a paraplegic.

The director also said that the Joker's first two appearances in the Batman comic portrayed the villain as a much more deadly character than the light-hearted comical figure he later became.

Explaining the basis for the darker portrayal of the character in the latest Batman flick, Nolan said: "I would certainly point to The Killing Joke but I also would point very much to the first two appearances of the Joker in the comic.

"If you look at where the Joker comes from there's a very clear direction that fits what we're doing very well," he added.

Nolan revealed that the title of the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight, was key to the film's content.

"The title has been chosen very specifically. It's quite important to the film," he said.

The Dark Knight will see Christian Bale return as the caped crusader in the sequel to Nolan's 2005 film Batman Begins.End of story

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