Batman Dark Knight Movie, Joker

Batman The Dark Knight - The Movie

Information on the Batman Dark Knight movie that hits the screens July 18th, 2008.

Batman The Dark Knight will hit the screens on July 18th, 2008.

Batman "The Dark Knight" reunites director Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, Memento) and star Christian Bale (Batman Begins, Rescue Dawn, Harsh Times, Reign of Fire, American Psycho), who reprises the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne.

With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime as he sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that have continued to plague Gotham City. The crime fighters' efforts prove to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a flood gate of chaos that's been unleashed by a new psychotic criminal mastermind known only as The Joker.

The Cast of Batman Dark Knight
Bruce Wayne Christian Bale	The Joker Heath Ledger	Lt. Gordon Gary Oldman	Alfred Pennyworth Butler Michael Caine	Lucius Fox (Wayne Enterprises CFO) Morgan Freeman	Some Chick who's not important to the movie Maggie Gyllenhaal
Compared to the images in the comics
Bruce Wayne	Joker - Pre Paint	Comm. Gordon	Alfred Pennyworth	Lucius Fox, CFO	Arm Candy

Batman Dark Knight 2008 Movie Trailer
	It's All About The Joker He is Batman's archenemy. This freak was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane (creator of the Batman), with contributions from artist Jerry Robinson and was released on the public in 1940 in Batman #1. he Joker was Initially portrayed as a violent sociopath who murders people and commits crimes for his own amusement. He has been responsible for numerous tragedies in Batman's life, including the paralysis of Barbara Gordon (also known as Batgirl) as well as the murders of Jason Todd (the second Robin) and Commissioner Jim Gordon's second wife Sarah Essen. Starting with Batman #1 (1940), the Joker was a straightforward sociopathic murderer, killing close to three dozen people, with a bizarre appearance modeled after the symbol of the Joker from a deck of playing cards. From there on out, Joker often escaped capture but always suffered an "apparent death" (falling off a cliff, being caught in a burning building, etc.), from which his body was never recovered.
The Dark Knight Prologue Featurette
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Making of The Dark Knight Prologue-Chicago
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Harvey Dent - A good look at evil manifest!

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Batman T-Shirts and Merchandise - click here to go to complete Batman merchandise page
Batman Hoodie $37.99	Batman Logo Symbol T-Shirt $18.79	I'm Batman T-Shirt $18.99	Batman Crisis 3 Action Figure $18.99	Batmobile Tumbler $95.00	Batman Metal 30 MM Keychain $10.99

Meet The New Joker

Dark Knight: What's It All About?

When last we saw the caped crusader Batman in Batman Begins (2005), Bats had taken down enigmatic evildoer Ra's al Ghul, pledged to rebuild his father's mansion and lost Katie Holmes' Rachel Dawes (brunette hottie) — presumably to someone with fewer "issues" than him.

Now comes... "The Dark Knight," and we are all awaiting one more plot development that we were viciously teased with at the end of "Batman Begins." In comes, Brokeback's own... Heath Ledger who is The Joker.

If you all can remember, Batman Begins concluded with Lieutenant Gordon discussing a new criminal to Bats on the roof: "Armed robbery, double homicide, got a taste for the theatrical like you," he said. "Leaves a calling card." Flipping over a playing card to reveal the Joker, Batman was off into the night, perhaps to meet his archenemy for the first time.

Dark Knight handlers Gone Viral

One of the beauties of this film are the viral marketing techniques used. Thinly veiled sites such as:

Note the four pages on the Ha Ha Ha Times. Some of the content is cross referenced so that people will find easter eggs and clues to the movie. Pretty ingenious stuff.

First Appearance of Batman - Detective Comics #27 1939 First Appearance of Batman

May, 1939, Detective Comics #27 debuted the Bat-Man. Robin and the Joker didn't make their seperate appearances until 1940.

The stories that were featured a great adventure of the Crimson Avenger, with the Byzantine crime fighter taking on a gambling ring that kills everyone who doesn't pay their debts. Jim Chambers provides some very simple yet very forceful art for this story.

This issue also features the adventures of Speed Saunders, Buck Marshall, Range Detective, Spy (by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster), Bruce Nelson, The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu (adapted from Sax Rohmer's books), Flatfoot Flannigan, Plain Clothes Pete, Cosmo, The Master of Disguise, and Slam Bradley (also by Siegel and Shuster).

And... this issue also featured the first appearance of The Batman.

Batman Spotlight and Those Who Played Joker and Batman

Batman #1 1940

Batman made his first appearance in "Detective Comics #27" in May of 1939. (The image above is Batman #1, the first appearance of the Joker & Catwoman)

Created by Bob Kane, Batman was way different from the Batman we know of today. In the first few stories he was more like the Punisher where he actually carried a gun killed his enemies with it.

At a certain point though, Batman evolved and swore off guns, vowing he'd never take a life.

First Appearance of The Joker.
First Appearance of Catwoman.
Detective Comics #38 1940 - First appearance of Robin.

Cesar Romero - The Joker
Batam TV Series 1966 - 1968

The ABC television Batman Series aired for 2½ seasons from January 12, 1966 to March 14, 1968. During that time Cesar Romero achieved icon status when he played The Joker in the Batman Series.

While playing The Joker, Romero refused to shave off his trademark mustache so it was covered with the white Joker makeup instead.

Romero also portrayed The Joker in the movie version of the show, and his performances as The Joker were an influence for Mark Hamillwhen he took the role of The Joker in Batman: The Animated Series.

Jack Nicholson - The Joker
Tim Burton's Batman Movie 1989

In 1989 Warner Bros. slated Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher to direct the Batman movie.

Burton offered a different origin for Nicholson's Joker, making him a part of Batman's origin as well as giving The Joker a real name: Jack Napier. Nicholson's Joker ranks #45 in the American Film Institute's list of the top 50 film villains of all time.

Heath Ledger - The Joker
Batman Dark Knight 2008

Michael Caine, who plays Bruce Wayn'es butler ALfred Pennyworth, says about Heath Ledger, "[Ledger] is like a really scary psychopath. I did one scene with him and he was ready to go and had to come up in a lift and raid our place... I didn't see him for rehearsal and when he came out of
the lift he was so incredible I forgot my lines. He frightened the life out of me. ... I'd never met him before. He's a lovely guy and his Joker is going to be a hell of a revelation in this picture."

Christian Bale said that Ledger's portrayal deviates from previous interpretations of The Joker. “It’s a much more anarchic, punk rock, almost junkie version of it... He’s that kind of psycho kid that just will do anything and has absolutely no
conscience and morals – I think they’ve done a real nice job with his look. It’s certainly a whole lot more dangerous; there’s a bit of Clockwork Orange there, a bit of Sid Vicious, a whole lot of great, anarchic personalities blended within The Joker.”

Lewis Wilson - Batman 1943

Lewis Wilson was the first man to bring Batman to life on screen. in 1943 he played the caped crusader in the 15 part movie serial "The Batman."

While the Batman costume was pathetically laughable by todays standards (keep in mind this is before our entry into WW II and they didn't have lycra back then), Wilson still managed to do a decent role of diferentiating playboy Bruce Wayne from the dark and brooding Batman. Good job Lewis.

The Lewis Wilson Batman serial was eventually released to VHS, and now dvd. Having been filmed during World War II the original version had dialogue that, by todays standards, would be politically incorrect, which makes you want to watch it even more, and it also included an abundance of Japanese villains. Ko Nichi WAAAA!!!

In 1949 Batman returned to the serial screen in the sequel "Batman and Robin" which featured an entirely different cast. Robert Lowery was now Batman for another 15 episodes, where the dynamic duo fought some freak villain called The Wizard. ooooohhhhh... he's gonna Gitchya!!

Unfortunately, the 1949 serial also introduced the lame character that was later revived in the Michael Keaton Batman... Vicki Vale, Bruce Wayne's girl-reporter love interest. ... sigh...

If you want to tell the difference between Lowery and Wilson, Lowery is the one that appears with Robin and his bat symbol is smaller and rides lower on his chest than Wilson's.

Adam West - Batman 1966

Adam West played Batman on the ABC Batman TV series for 2½ seasons from January 12, 1966 to March 14, 1968.

Adam West's Batman/ Bruce Wayne was a zealot for all things wholesome and good. He routinely spouted proverbs to his castmates heralding patriotism, civil obedience, and the American way. He was superb in his delivery.

Such over-the-top dialogue continues to be the style some associate with the Batman character despite it being the least reflective of the Batman mythos as it is known today in the comics and recent movies. The series was, however, reflective of the character as portrayed in comics in the late 1950s and early 1960s, before editor Julius Schwartzrevamped the books, removing much of the silliness.

The tv show revolved around the adventures of the crimefighter Batman (Adam West) and Robin (Burt Ward) in Gotham City. Batman's secret identity was as a debonair "millionaire philanthropist" who lived outside the city in "stately Wayne Manor" with his young ward Dick Grayson and faithful butler Alfred Pennyworth, and Aunt Harriet Cooper (Madge Blake.

I know, I know, there was no Aunt Harriet in the comics, but that's artistic license for you. Aunt Harriet was supposed to be Dick Grayson's, not Wayne's, biological aunt, though this fact was mentioned only a few times during the second season.