Curious?
We all knew that Nolan was not going to give any reference to Heath Ledger’s character in DARK KNIGHT RISES out of respect, and that with me is fine as I don’t think ‘replacing’ the character with another actor would have been fair for either Ledger’s legacy or the Joker’s presence in the series. But no one ever said anyting thing of the novelization…right?
And it seems that as a means of adding closure to Nolan’s Joker, Greg Cox dwells in the idea of what might have happened to him. Here is ZergNet’s report:
Fans of Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy films might wonder where the insane criminal mastermind ‘The Joker’ had scampered off to when prisoners were freed from the newly constructed Blackgate Prison in Gotham City. Well, the novelization of “The Dark Knight Rises” may shed some light on the Clown Prince of Crime’s whereabouts.
Scheduled to be released today on-line and in bookstores, the 415 page The Dark Knight Rises: The Official Novelization by author Greg Cox delves into the Jonathan and Christopher Nolan screenplay a little closer. Original rumors had Heath Ledger’s Joker make a cameo via unused footage from 2008′s “The Dark Knight,” but it panned out as such. Warner Bros. Studio later confirmed it was just a rumor. Cox provides better details and lets fans know about the shady and ambiguous fate of the Joker. Here is the exact quote from the novel .
“Now that the Dent Act had made it all but impossible for the city’s criminals to cop an insanity plea, it (Blackgate Prison) had replaced Arkham Asylum as the preferred location for imprisoning both convicted and suspected felons. The worst of the worst were sent here, except for the Joker, who, rumor had it, was locked away as Arkham’s sole remaining inmate. Or perhaps he had escaped. Nobody was really sure. Not even Selina.”
Remember Selina Kyle (Catwoman) was held at Blackgate Prison for a short time. By using her feminine wiles, she would have had ample opportunity to find out from other inmates the location or whereabouts of the Joker.
From a historical standpoint, Adolf Hitler’s Deputy Leader of the Nazi Party Rudolph Hesswas convicted and sentenced to life in Spandau Prison on Oct. 1, 1946. He was the sole occupant from 1966 until his apparent suicide in 1987. By applying this form of punishment to Nolan’s Joker, there would be no one to talk to or play with. Thus, driving the ‘Man Who Laughs’ into the further depths of his madness.
Note: Greg Cox is the New York Times bestselling author of several hugely popular Star Trek novels. He has also written successful novelizations and tie-ins for Countdown, Infinite Crisis and many more. Cox is a consulting editor for Tor Books and was nominated in 2008 for the Best Speculative Adapted Scribe Award for 52: The Novel.
report:
Fans of Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy films might wonder where the insane criminal mastermind ‘The Joker’ had scampered off to when prisoners were freed from the newly constructed Blackgate Prison in Gotham City. Well, the novelization of “The Dark Knight Rises” may shed some light on the Clown Prince of Crime’s whereabouts.
Scheduled to be released today on-line and in bookstores, the 415 page The Dark Knight Rises: The Official Novelization by author Greg Cox delves into the Jonathan and Christopher Nolan screenplay a little closer. Original rumors had Heath Ledger’s Joker make a cameo via unused footage from 2008′s “The Dark Knight,” but it panned out as such. Warner Bros. Studio later confirmed it was just a rumor. Cox provides better details and lets fans know about the shady and ambiguous fate of the Joker. Here is the exact quote from the novel .
“Now that the Dent Act had made it all but impossible for the city’s criminals to cop an insanity plea, it (Blackgate Prison) had replaced Arkham Asylum as the preferred location for imprisoning both convicted and suspected felons. The worst of the worst were sent here, except for the Joker, who, rumor had it, was locked away as Arkham’s sole remaining inmate. Or perhaps he had escaped. Nobody was really sure. Not even Selina.”
Remember Selina Kyle (Catwoman) was held at Blackgate Prison for a short time. By using her feminine wiles, she would have had ample opportunity to find out from other inmates the location or whereabouts of the Joker.
From a historical standpoint, Adolf Hitler’s Deputy Leader of the Nazi Party Rudolph Hesswas convicted and sentenced to life in Spandau Prison on Oct. 1, 1946. He was the sole occupant from 1966 until his apparent suicide in 1987. By applying this form of punishment to Nolan’s Joker, there would be no one to talk to or play with. Thus, driving the ‘Man Who Laughs’ into the further depths of his madness.
Note: Greg Cox is the New York Times bestselling author of several hugely popular Star Trek novels. He has also written successful novelizations and tie-ins for Countdown, Infinite Crisis and many more. Cox is a consulting editor for Tor Books and was nominated in 2008 for the Best Speculative Adapted Scribe Award for 52: The Novel.
Maybe is not much information, but by Santa Claus that this quote has sparked my inner writer again in wondering what happened to Joker during those missing years…OH THE POSSIBILITIES…
It was only after the release of Nolan’s first venture into the Batman mythos that Ledger realized Nolan’s vision for the character and the film, and for the comic book movie genre. Because regardless of whether you enjoyed Nolan’s Batman trilogy, flaws and all, his way of making the genre “relatable” completely redefined comic book movies. At last, superheroes could be ground in a sort of realism, or as Nolan calls it, “relatability.”
