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…
If Nolanverse!Joker was left to himself, I think he probably would have gone much more insane, likely becoming insane on the same level as Comic!Joker… just completely off the wall. Entirely out of it. Nolanverse!Joker was really more of a psychotic schemer. Left to his own devices, left alone, he’d be pretty much gone.
That, or he escaped. I like to think he escaped, and he’s still somehow around. I think he escaped and was even in Gotham when bane was around, but he knew better than to fuck with Bane at that point. He was likely off licking his wounds at not getting Gotham to its knees first, and didn’t want to insult his pride further by joining up with Bane’s little group. Hell he was probably off enjoying the chaos, but likely split when he found out at some point that Bane wanted to destroy everything. He may even have been killed in action at some point. He may have just disappeared entirely, and is wrecking people’s shit elsewhere. One will never know, really…
Somehow I think the script for TDKR must have been written for the Joker (Bane sounds too much like him at points for it to be a coincidence), but then was later rewritten to include Bane after Ledger’s death…
Not many people know that Ledger was signed for 2 movies which means he was supposed to be in the sequel to TDK too. Unfortunately, fate had other plans. I agree…there where times Bane scenes sounded more what Joker would do/say.
I personally would have loved to see Joker doing that Scarecrow judge scene. I think he would have made it memorable.
Pretty sure that scene WAS for him, but Scarecrow got shoved in instead due to… problems. You never know…
Although Scarecrow did do a great job playing that “judge” cameo, the Joker would have given it the comical twist the Joker is known for. Had he escaped from prison/asylum, I would have liked to see a scene in which the Joker had a encounter with Bane.
I definitely agree.
The Joker and Bane together on the screen would have been an spectacular interaction. Joker twisting with the mind of his victims is a psychological villain, Bane is brutal force personified. The contrast is quite dramatic, and Joker would have had a blast playing around with Bane (and Talia’s) scheming.