Heath Ledger As The Joker
Without a doubt the biggest fanboy fail of all time is the absolutely brutal bashing of Christopher Nolan’s decision to cast Heath Ledger as the Joker.
The Joker is a character who is almost as iconic as Batman, and I’d argue that even fewer actors would be able to pull off the role. Those who came before Ledger all brought something different to the character, and all were absolutely loved, especially Jack Nicholson. So the consensus was that the pretty boy actor from Brokeback Mountain and A Knight’s Tale was going to give the worst performance as a villain ever, and The Dark Knight was going to be a complete fail because of it. .
Fans at the time had plenty of other actors they wanted to see in the role. From Robin Williams to Johnny Depp, almost everyone would have been a better joker than Ledger. The reactions were vicious, from homophobic comments due to his role in Brokeback to complaints that Ledger was just a “little twerp who got lucky.” Basically no one, at least on the internet, was behind his casting.
But then the movie came out, and everything changed forever. Ledger brought his own flair to the character and created something unrivalled in terms of comic villains. He won not only the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor, but the Oscar for the same category, something that was nearly unthinkable for a comic book film prior to The Dark Knight. His dedication to the character is one of the greatest examples of method acting imaginable. He locked himself in a hotel room for a month, writing in a diary the thoughts and feelings of the character in an effort to fully become the Joker. Mission accomplished.
When Nolan was asked why he cast Ledger, the director gave a simple reply, “Because he’s fearless.” Ledger’s loss is one that’s mourned by everyone, but especially by the vocal fanboys who are now convinced that no one else will ever be able play the Joker as well as Ledger did.
