Joker Actor Named for Next Batman Movie

[Mistwell]

Can he do a convincing American accent? I've never seen him in a role as an American...

Well Christian Bale is already faking the accent, why not add yet another actor faking an American accent

I'm fine with Ledger as Joker, though I am not all that pleased that they are returning to Joker when that role was already done quite to my satisfaction in the first Batman movie.

 

[Klaus]

Not so.

Golden Age and Silver Age Batman's were quite violent at times. Silver Age Batman stood by while young Robin killed one of Zucco's thugs while taking steps to ensure Zucco would get the electric chair, and I have no idea how many criminals Golden Age Batman actually murdered, though I remember he and Robin killed off a bunch of the Green Dragon Tong members by crushing them underneath a statue...

Good?

And in the Golden Age Batman carried a handgun around and sometimes executed criminals...

With characters with such a long history and so many interpretations, you have to go with what's more recognizable/current. So the Post-Year One Batman only veered to Neutrality after Jason Todd died. Nightwing was with him when Tony Zucco was released from jail, and Batman did nothing when Zucco was shot and killed mere steps from the prison door. Nightwing confronted him that he knew Zucco was gonna get killed, but then Batman snapped out of it and denied knowing that. This issue was illustrated by Pat Broderick, and was an intervention of sorts, which only ended in A Death In The Family, when Tim Drake began the training to be Robin.

 

[freebfrost]

With characters with such a long history and so many interpretations, you have to go with what's more recognizable/current.

But that's a slippery slope Klaus.

Killing Joke was not meant to be canon in the Modern Age, but it has become so. Do you consider Miller canon, because Batman kills the Joker in his works?

It's easy to pick any particular series and say, for example, that based on XYZ particular story, Superman and Batman are evil. I prefer to look at the character as a whole over their entire history. As such, Batman clearly has a very dark side that he barely keeps in control. He constantly treads the line between good and evil, and sometimes succumbs to his darker self. YMMV.

 

[Klaus]

Yes, Killing Joke wasn't meant to be canon, and Alan Moore himself stated that if he knew the novel would mean the end of Barbara Gordon as Batgirl, he wouldn't have included that (and I still cling to the hope that she might be back).

As for Miller, Dark Knight Returns is great, but it's Elseworlds. And I still pretend DK2 never happened. :shudder:"

One of the more common reactions to the current (post-Infinite Crisis) Batman is that he's finally acting like Batman again.

 

[Felon]

And in the Golden Age Batman carried a handgun around and sometimes executed criminals...

This myth about the golden-age Batman being a gun-toting killer is based on pure hyperbole. Batman employed a gun in one or two instances, never killed anyone with it, and certainly never executed anyone in cold blood. It was something Bob Kane experimented with early in Batman's character very briefly before deciding it didn't suit the character.

 

[demiurge1138]

This myth about the golden-age Batman being a gun-toting killer is based on pure hyperbole. Batman employed a gun in one or two instances, never killed anyone with it, and certainly never executed anyone in cold blood. It was something Bob Kane experimented with early in Batman's character very briefly before deciding it didn't suit the character.

I'll have you know I just read a lot of Golden Age Batman recently, and he did shoot a criminal, in the heart, while he was helpless.

The criminal was a vampire, of course. It was a silver bullet. Golden Age Batman was pretty weird.

Demiurge out.

 

[KenM]

IIRC the reason Batman first used guns was Bob Kane wanted him to be more like the pulp character The Shadow.

 

[Wolv0rine]

Granted I haven't read a whole LOT of golden age Bat-Man comics, but wasn't it pretty staple in the early golden age that crooks tended to get dead like, a LOT? Puched over cliffs, planes blown up, all that jazz?
I read someone where once (references lost in the obscurity of my memory) that while Bat-Man didn't tote a gun and shoot people (except for the extremely limited number of times he did) that regardless, he seemed to be the last thing a lot of crooks ever saw.

 

[Ranger REG]

IIRC the reason Batman first used guns was Bob Kane wanted him to be more like the pulp character The Shadow.

At least he didn't copy the laughter.

 

[freebfrost]

As for Miller, Dark Knight Returns is great, but it's Elseworlds. And I still pretend DK2 never happened. :shudder:"

I never even read it because of reactions like this.

One of the more common reactions to the current (post-Infinite Crisis) Batman is that he's finally acting like Batman again.

QFT.