Nicholson Closed To New Joker

By Rafe Telsch: 2007-11-07 19:19:27

Fans have been excited for a while over Heath Ledger’s involvement as The Joker in The Dark Knight, the sequel to Batman Begins. Not everyone, it would appear, is as thrilled, however. On the “not very excited list” is a former Joker, Jack Nicholson, who told MTV Movie Blog’s Josh Horowitz that he’s not happy to hear Joker is returning without Jack behind the makeup.

”They never asked me about a sequel with the Joker.” Nicholson fumed. ”I know how to do that! Nobody ever asked me.” The mourning of the lost part then led into mourning over the entire franchise, which Nicholson felt the studio (Warner Brothers), ”kind of drove… into the ground.”

I can understand Nicholson’s frustration over the loss of the Burton franchise, especially considering his high regard for Burton as a filmmaker. But these are separate movies – a completely different entity, frankly. While I have a lot of appreciation for Nicholson’s Joker character, I don’t see how that character could possibly fit into Christopher Nolan’s depiction of the Batman world. It’s too outlandish, even if it is in a malevolent way. I think most fans want a Batman flick that doesn’t demystify Batman’s rogue’s gallery the way Burton did The Joker (I still hate that whole Jack Napier storyline, even though I do like Burton’s Batman).

From Nicholson’s comments, it seems Nolan won’t need to reserve a front seat for the sunglass-wearing Jack, since the actor doesn’t appear interested in even seeing another actor’s portrayal of the character. That’s fine, though. It’s another seat a real fan can fill instead of a somewhat conceited actor who doesn’t see his characterization doesn’t fit in the revived franchise.

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Ian
November 23, 2008 at 23:41

He has every right to be dissapointed. Heath Ledger wasn't very Joker-ish, nor did he look remotely like how the Joker is supposed. Long live Jack.

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SomeNick
March 21, 2008 at 00:45

I liked both Tim Burton Batmans. He depicted the characters in a very realistic way.

I haven't had the opportunity to see Batman Begins, so I can't comment on it.

But I agree that Schumacher pretty much killed Batman by the mid 90s.

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Kris
November 8, 2007 at 13:25

I can agree that the franchise WAS driven into the ground, but not by Burton and certainly not by Nolan, but by that neon-loving Schumacher (who seriosuly dissapointed me, I love just about every other film he ever made besides the Batmans). If Nicholson could realize his time to play the joker has, unfortunately, passed, then maybe he could move on.
Given that, I think if Jack was a good 25 years younger, he could still be an amazing Joker under Nolans direction, but sorry, time moves on, give Heath his due.

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Reya Larr
November 8, 2007 at 13:23

Jack needs to get his facts straight. The Dark Knight is not a sequel to his 1989 Batman movie, it's a sequel to the Batman Begins movie. Completely different continuity.
And *his* Joker may be from his childhood, however the current Batman franchise is post Year One - a much darker, much more serious Batman. Nicholson's Joker was fine for that 1989 movie, but it is no where close to the Joker presented since 1987's year one revamp. Bottom line, Nicholson's joker was a little creepy and very mean, but he wasn't scarry. The Joker is supposed to terrify you just by hearing about him - just by seeing him because he has that aura about him. His own hench men are terrified of him. The promo close-up picture of Heath is terrifying. That's the Joker of today. (note to Heath... don't drop the ball).

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