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For Your Consideration - A New Joker *Spoilers*

I’m about to make an unpopular suggestion. Look at the end of The Dark Knight. The Joker and Batman have a showdown and the last we see of Heath Ledger’s Joker is him hanging upside down, laughing, and getting arrested. That’s it–that’s our “good bye” to a terrific character. There’s a sentiment that I’ve read online that Christopher Nolan and co. should move on–try out villains like Penguin, Catwoman, the Riddler, or bring back Two-Face for the next film. Isn’t that disrespectful to the character of the Joker, though? Yes, Ledger is AMAZING in The Dark Knight, but shouldn’t we honor his performance by carrying on with the character?

The obvious question after that is WHO could fill in for Ledger’s Joker. We here at SWinc have a few suggestions, and we welcome your hate mail.

Javier Bardem–

Tim in particular likes this suggestion a lot. Bardem played reserved and tricky in No Country for Old Men (which is still in the SWinc Penalty Box) and those are two characteristics that define the Joker. Anton Chigurh was always a step ahead of everyone and had a great knack for improvisation. He doesn’t really look anything like Ledger, but he’s a diverse enough actor that he might be able to pull off the Joker. Bardem is also old, but that could be fixed with the make-up he’s bound to be wearing.

Ben Foster–

Foster has played crazy several times, most notably in 3:10 To Yuma. He’s got CRAZY eyes and anytime I watch him I become unnerved because he’s very unpredictable. That is a great trait you need for the Joker, because he needs to be capable of flipping a switch at any given time. The drawback I see with Foster is that he still appears very young, and he also showed that comic-book adaptations were not exactly his thing by stinking it up in X3, but I won’t hold that against him.

Johnny Depp–

Depp was one of those guys that was a fan-favorite before Ledger was signed on to do the Joker a year and a half ago. We all know what Depp can do as an actor, namely anything. He’s already filled in for Ledger in Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (along with Jude Law and Colin Farrell playing Ledger’s departed role). Depp may be a little too high-profile for the role, in my opinion, but he is certainly a great actor and could sink into a role like the Joker the same way he did with Captain Jack.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt–

Yes, he’s doing mainstream stuff like G.I. Joe (as Cobra Commander) after only doing some independent stuff before. He worked with Ledger on 10 Things I Hate About You which launched both of their film careers (unless you consider Angels in the Outfield as Levitt’s launching pad). Here’s what I like about Levitt–he’s a diverse talent. He’s an actor much like Ledger, whose taken mostly quiet, internal roles but you can tell he’s got a lot of craziness that could just explode out of him. And actually, he looks quite a bit like Ledger, too. I can’t determine if that would help or hurt him at this point, though.

Michael C. Hall–

Hall has done it all. He’s done the subtle and thought-provoking (”Six Feet Under”), the outlandish and exuberant (he played the Emcee in Cabaret on Broadway), and the psychologically deranged (”Dexter”) to fulfill the requirements to play the Joker. Hall is a tremendous talent and the cherry on top: he has a wicked smile. Just watch some YouTube clips of Hall in “Dexter” and tell me he couldn’t make a terrifying Joker. He’s a methodical actor and not afraid to completely immerse himself in a role. That much can be said about anyone on this list, but Hall has done it moreso because he’s had to play totally different characters consistently for years on end due to long shooting schedules for TV shows.

Let us know in the comment section below if you agree/disagree with our choices, and who else you think *could* play the Joker, provided Nolan wants him to be a part of the third Batman film.

© 2008 Strong Words INC.