Following the release of Batman Begins on June 15, 2005 the rumors began to swirl concerning who would play The Joker. Yeah, this isn’t new territory. Looking back it looks like names such as Lachy Hulme, Vincent Cassel and Paul Bettany were the early frontrunners around October 12, 2005. It wasn’t until almost a year later that we finally got news that Heath Ledger was indeed cast as The Joker.
On July 20, 2006 LatinoReview we learned Aaron Eckhart was going to play Harvey Dent.
The difference here, of course, being that even before Batman Begins was released the plotline for The Dark Knight was known. In May of 2005, prior to the release of Batman Begins, David Goyer was quoted saying the following:
“The next one would have Batman enlisting the aid of Gordon and Dent in bringing down the Joker… but not killing him, which is a mistake they made in the first one… In the third, the Joker would go on trial, scarring Dent in the process.”
Boom! You read that? Now do you see why the end of The Dark Knight is the way it is? Ledger’s death is going to be a major factor in the third film.
I don’t typically like to get too involved in fanboy frivolity, but the more I think about it the idea of a third film just sounds like such a bad idea to me. Who doesn’t look at the Spider-Man franchise and try to forget about Spider-Man 3? How often do you pop in Godfather 3, X3 or even Return of the Jedi over the first two films in each respective franchise? Now compare The Dark Knight and Batman Begins to those franchises and think to yourself what it would mean
I’ll tell yah, a third film still starring The Joker with Dent still alive and becoming Two-Face would have been AMAZING with the cast that has been assembled. However, Dent is already Two-Face and he is now officially dead. Replacing Heath Ledger may be considered by many fanboys to be blasphemous… it’s not like it is replacing Katie Holmes with Maggie Gyllenhaal if you know what I mean.
Nope, all signs point to The Dark Knight being the end of the Batman franchise for another 20 years. Warner Bros. can turn their focus to other DC titles and try and get a new Superman right. I know the The Dark Knight has made at the domestic box-office is too enticing for Warner Bros. to ignore, but I beg you to consider it.
Oh, and finally, shut the hell up with these stupid rumors. Let’s wait for July 2009 and see what happens then. Deal?
