Dark Knight holds off Mummy at the top of the box office for third weekend

"The Dark Knight" fended off a strong challenge from the new "Mummy" sequel to lead the North American box office for a third weekend, and is on track to become the second-biggest movie of all time.

The Batman blockbuster earned $43.8 million for the three days beginning Friday, distributor Warner Bros. Pictures said on Sunday. Universal's "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" followed with $42.5 million.

The Walt Disney Co. political comedy "Swing Vote" came in at No. 6 with just $6.3 million, the latest disappointment for its star, Kevin Costner, who has not had a $100 million movie since 1992's "The Bodyguard."

The total for "The Dark Knight" rose to $394.9 million. Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc, said it expects the film to add at least $100 million, surpassing the $461 million haul of 1977's "Star Wars" and its two reissues, the current No. 2 movie of all time in the United States and Canada.

The $601 million record, held by 1997's "Titanic," seems watertight. Adjusted for inflation, though, "Titanic" ranks at No. 6, far behind "Gone with the Wind" at $1.4 billion, according to tracking firm Box Office Mojo.

"The Dark Knight" will add yet another record to its impressive tally on Monday or Tuesday, when it breaks $400 million, which would be its 18th or 19th day of release. The old record of 43 days is held by 2004's "Shrek 2."

The Dark Knight Opening 6 Minutes

If you have not watched "The Dark Knight" yet for some reason(have you been living in a cave?) and want to understand what's the big hype about this movie. Check out the opening sequence of this summer blockbuster. The Dark Knight is a follow up to the 2005 Batman Begins , a reboot of the entire Batman Franchise after the embrassment and flop that was Batman and Robin.

The Dark Knight features on the Psychotic Joker and his Campaign to take over Gotham City while battling the Batman(Bruce Wayne) and Harvey Dent( A New District Attonery) and is a follow up sequel to 2005 Batman Begins.

Have you watched the Dark Knight? What is your views and thoughts about it? Has it lived up to the hype? Share your comments and views with other readers in our comments section.

Sean Report: Batman 3 and Catwoman

As Rachel Dawes perished in The Dark Knight, Batman 3 will need a new female lead and words are around that it's likely to be a feline. Catwoman is likely to be both a villain and Bruce Wayne's love interest in the third installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman series.

Catwoman's appearance in the film is ever so likely if the Nolan brothers and David Goyer are to further adapt the graphic novels Batman: The Long Halloween and its sequel Dark Victory.

As she plays a big role in the graphic novels and with the spot of a female lead character needing to be filled, we'll just have to guess who will play Catwoman.

As for the choice of a second villain, it may be the return of Two-Face and/or the Joker. Both Aaron Eckhart and Heath Ledger signed deals for two Batman films and Two-Face is an important character in The Long Halloween.

Nolan wants realistic theme and characters in his Batman series, thus we won't be seeing villians that need a lot of CGI special Effects, such as Killer Croc, Man-Bat and even Poison Ivy.

The Riddler will make a good addition to the series, as he can fill the void left by the Joker to give Batman mental tests of wit.

If Nolan is really serious about realistic villains, how about the mob boss Carmine "The Roman" Falcone? His inclusion will move the film further into the noir genre that was initiated by TDK.

One thing that's almost certain is that we won't be seeing Robin in the next Batman movie because Christopher Nolan does not want to work on the Boy Wonder. It will be a waste not to see Joker again but if he is to return, who will replace Heath Ledger as the clown prince?
-- Sean Hein

Sean Report :Future of Batman after Nolan

Director Christopher Nolan stated that Batman 3 will be his last Batman movie and Christian Bale announced that he'll continue as Batman only if Nolan is directing. So what will happen to Batman after Nolan hangs the towel?

Who will be the director to replace him and carry on the dark and realistic theme of his version of Batman? Who will replace Christian Bale as the Caped Crusader? These questions and a few others remain in unanswered.

Even though the realistic theme is working magnificient for Nolan's Batman, it will be great for fans of the comic to see characters such as Nightwing, Batgirl, and Catwoman helping Batman to defeat villains like Black Mask, Bane, Poison Ivy, Clayface and Killer Croc in future Batman movies. It will be pleasing if Superman makes an appearance.

The realistic feel of The Dark Knight brings in more adult audience and the film is also enjoyable for those who does not like Batman or thinks it's for kids.

However, if the studio is to stay true to the Caped Crusader's comic ventures and please the hard-core fans, characters and villains of Batman's later years will have to appear in future films to portray masterpiece storylines such as The Dark Knight Returns, War Games, No Man's Land and Hush.

The no-CGI- based villains rule will have to be broken but how these interesting characters will be portrayed in the most realistic way possible will depend on the future writers and director of the franchise.

- Sean Hein

The Dark Knight (2008)

One of the best trailer you'll see this year in cinemas, and it got batman series fans and movies fans in high anticipation and frenzy when it was released prior to the movie release.

Most of the excitment was built upon seeing the Joker for the first time. And hype over the Joker reached a new height following the news of the death of Heath Ledger, who portray the Joker in what was his last complete work, due to accident drug overdose.

Meanwhile Christian Bale returned for the role of the main character, The Batman. Bale has praised director Christopher Nolan vision and directing of the series as well as the critical reaction to his first performance in the first film Batman Begins as main reasons for his confidence in his participation in the series.

As of August 1, 2008, The Dark Knight has grossed over $363 million in the domestic box office, breaking the previous record of the fastest film to hit $300 million
its total worldwide gross stands at $491.9 million.

The Dark Knight is currently highest grossing movie of the year in domestic box office and third worldwide.

The Dark Knight is a 2008 American superhero/crime film co-written and directed by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins. Christian Bale reprises the lead role.

Batman's primary conflicts in the film include his fight against his arch-nemesis the Joker (Heath Ledger) and his rivalry with district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) for the affections of assistant D.A. Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal).

For his conception of the film, Nolan was inspired by the Joker's first two appearances in the comics and Batman: The Long Halloween.

The Dark Knight was filmed primarily in Chicago, as well as in several other locations in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong. The director used an IMAX camera to film six major action sequences, including the Joker's first appearance in the film.

Warner Bros. created a viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight, developing promotional websites and trailers highlighting screenshots of Heath Ledger as the Joker.

After Ledger's death in January 2008, however, the studio refocused its promotional campaign.The film was released on July 16, 2008 in Australia, on July 18, 2008 in North America, and on July 24, 2008 in the United Kingdom.

Prior to its box office debut in North America, record numbers of advance tickets were sold for The Dark Knight. The film has broken multiple box office records, and achieved an overall approval rating of 94% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times describes The Dark Knight as a "haunted film that leaps beyond its origins and becomes an engrossing tragedy." He praises the performances, direction, and writing, and says the film "redefine[s] the possibilities of the comic-book movie".

Ebert states that the "key performance" is by Heath Ledger, and ponders whether he will become the first posthumous Academy Award winner since Peter Finch in 1976

David Ansen in Newsweek says the film is "impressive" in discussing the moral dilemma at its heart: the question about whether a vigilante has to abandon his code in order to defeat the villain

Before the release of Batman Begins, screenwriter David S. Goyer wrote a treatment for two sequels which introduced the Joker and Harvey Dent. His original intent was for the Joker to scar Dent during the Joker's trial in the third film, turning Dent into Two-Face

On July 31, 2006, Warner Bros. Pictures officially announced initiation of production for the sequel to Batman Begins titled The Dark Knight; it is the first live-action Batman film without the word "Batman" in its title, which Bale noted as signaling that "this take on Batman of mine and Chris' is very different from any of the others."

Batman Begins (2005)

Batman Begins is a 2005 superhero film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman, directed by Christopher Nolan. It stars Christian Bale as Batman, along with Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, Ken Watanabe, Tom Wilkinson, and Rutger Hauer.

The film reboots the Batman film series, telling the origin story of the character and begins with Bruce Wayne's initial fear of bats, the death of his parents, and his journey to becoming Batman.

It draws inspiration from classic comic book storylines such as Batman: The Man Who Falls, Batman: Year One, and Batman: The Long Halloween.

After a series of unsuccessful projects to resurrect Batman on screen following the 1997 critical and commercial failure of Batman & Robin, Nolan and David S. Goyer began work on the film in early 2003 and aimed for a darker and more realistic tone, with humanity and realism being the basis of the film.

The goal was to get the audience to care for both Batman and Bruce Wayne. The film was primarily shot in England and Chicago, and relied on traditional stunts and miniatures — computer-generated imagery was used minimally.

A new Batmobile, called the Tumbler, along with a new, more mobile Batsuit were both created specifically for the film.

Batman Begins was critically and commercially successful. The film opened on June 15, 2005 in the United States and Canada in 3,858 theaters. It grossed US$48 million in its opening weekend, eventually grossing $370 million worldwide. The film received an 84% overall approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes.

A DVD was released on October 18, 2005, containing featurettes and other bonus materials. Critics noted that fear was a common theme throughout the film, and remarked its darker tone compared to previous Batman films.

A sequel titled The Dark Knight was released in July 2008 and also sees the return of both Nolan and Bale.

James Berardinelli applauded Nolan and Goyer's work creating more understanding into "who [Batman] is and what motivates him", something Berardinelli felt Tim Burton's film lacked; at the same time.

Berardinelli felt the romantic aspect between Bale and Holmes did not work because the actors lacked the chemistry Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder (Superman), or Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst (Spider-Man) shared in their respective roles

Comic book scribe and editor Dennis O'Neil stated that he "felt the filmmakers really understood the character they were translating", citing this film as the best of the live-action Batman films

Roger Ebert, who gave mixed reviews to the previous films, wrote this was "the Batman movie I've been waiting for; more correctly, this is the movie I did not realize I was waiting for".

Giving it four out of four stars, he commended the realistic portrayals of the Batman arsenal—the Batsuit, Batcave, Batmobile, and the Batsignal—as well as the focus on "the story and character" with less stress on "high-tech action".

Batman and Robin (1997)

Batman & Robin is a 1997 film from the Batman film series starring George Clooney as Batman, Chris O'Donnell returning as Robin and introducing Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone), a niece of Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred (Michael Gough). Gough and Pat Hingle (Commissioner Gordon) are the only two actors to feature in all four of the original Batman films.

The villains in this movie are Poison Ivy, played by Uma Thurman; Mr. Freeze, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger (who received top billing for this film); and Bane, played by Jeep Swenson. This is the final film continuity-wise in the original Batman movie franchise (1989–1997), as the franchise's story was re-imagined with 2005's Batman Begins directed by Christopher Nolan.

Batman & Robin was made on a budget of $125 million and had a worldwide gross of $238 million. The film also opened at #1 at the box office. Despite its box office successes, the film was met with near universal criticism from fans of the comic books, critics and the general public.It was mocked for its poor script, and the film was dubbed Batman on Ice by critics for an opening scene where Batman and Robin glide on skates while battling Mr. Freeze's henchmen.

Despite its moderate box office success, the film was not critically well received. It was mocked for the poor script, and overextending the campy attitude, comprising the smirky one-liners and ludicrous stunts of its predecessor, Batman Forever

Author Mark S. Reinhart said, "The combination of Batman & Robin's terrible script, ridiculous costuming, garish sets, uninspired direction, etc. made the film into the appalling dump heap that it is". In his review of the film, critic Leonard Maltin found that "the 'story' often makes no sense" and that the "action and effects are loud, gargantuan, and ultimately numbing"

In the featurette entitled "Batman Unbound", Chris O'Donnell compared his experiences on making Batman Forever to his experiences on making Batman & Robin by saying "When I made Batman Forever, I felt like I was making a movie. When I made Batman & Robin, I felt like I was making a toy commercial.

"Yet another reason why the film was ridiculed by critics and fans alike was the pun-ridden dialogue, which mainly came from the two main villains of the film, Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy. Some of the most criticized portions of the dialogue were Mr. Freeze's ice puns, such as 'Mercy! I'm afraid, that my condition has made me cold to your pleas of mercy!' or 'You won't send me to the cooler! What killed the dinosaurs! The Ice Age ! ' and 'Alright everyone! Chill!' Lines such as these were seen as something of a nadir in the Batman universe.

George Clooney was severely embarrassed of himself by the film, saying "I think we might have killed the franchise."

Batman Forever(1995)

Batman Forever is an Academy Award-nominated 1995 superhero film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman. It is the third film in the Batman film franchise and the first one directed by Joel Schumacher, who replaced Tim Burton, the director of the first two films in the franchise, Batman and Batman Returns.

It is also the only film in the franchise to star Val Kilmer as Batman, who replaced Michael Keaton from the first two films. The film also marked the series debut of Robin.

The film's cast included Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey, Chris O'Donnell, Nicole Kidman, Drew Barrymore and Debi Mazar. However, Michael Gough and Pat Hingle, who featured in the first two films, returned to reprise the respective characters Alfred and Commissioner James Gordon in this film.

The film served as a major departure from its predecessor Batman Returns, whose dark tone was rejected in favor of a lighter tone designed to appeal to younger audiences.

This included dramatic changes to the cast, design, and Danny Elfman's score, whose themes were not carried into this film. Batman Forever was commercially successful at the box office. However, it received mixed reviews from critics.

Brian Lowry of Variety cited the film as a poor attempt to "save" the Batman film series. Peter Travers from Rolling Stone called the film a "sour taste," and mocked the formation of how it transferred back to the campy Batman TV series. Comic book veterans took heavy negative feedback against the film as well.

Scott Beatty called Tommy Lee Jones' performance "a Joker knock-off rather than a multi-layered rogue,"while Lee Bermejo cited it as "unbearable." One scene depicts Two-Face flipping his coin until he gets a result he wants. In the comics, a key element of his split personality is that he unquestioningly accepts the result of a single coin toss concerning any decision he makes. Overall, the film holds a 44% rating at Rotten Tomatoes

Batman Returns (1992)

Batman Returns is a 1992 film based on the Batman character created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. Tim Burton directed the film, which has Michael Keaton reprising the role of Batman, as well as Danny DeVito, Michelle Pfeiffer and Christopher Walken.

The film's plot primarily concerns Bruce Wayne/Batman struggling to maintain order in Gotham City after the appearance of the villainous Penguin (DeVito) and the mysterious, equally deadly Catwoman (Pfeiffer).

Burton originally did not want to return for a second installment due to his mixed emotions from the original film. After being impressed with a script by Daniel Waters, he thought otherwise. Wesley Strick would later be brought on for an uncredited rewrite, deleting characterizations of Robin and Harvey Dent (both of whom would ultimately appear in Batman Forever).

The film was entirely shot at Warner Bros. studios in Burbank, California (the first film was shot at Pinewood Studios in England), with Danny Elfman returning to compose the film score, citing it as a stressful experience, but still overall positive.

Batman Returns was both a commercial and critical success, but did spawn controversies (being seen as "too dark" for younger children). Comic book veterans would express mixed thoughts and reviews. The film would also receive nominations at the Academy Awards, MTV Movie Awards and the Razzie Awards

Phillip Thomas of Empire wrote: "Burton continues to capture the essence of the Batman legend and more importantly his audience's imagination."Peter Travers of Rolling Stone supported the main themes that included the story, characters, and visual citing that "Burton uses the summer's most explosively entertaining movie to lead us back into the liberating darkness of dreams."

Todd McCarthy of Variety went further, feeling "Where Burton's ideas end and those of his collaborators begin is impossible to know, but result is a seamless, utterly consistent universe full of nasty notions about societal deterioration, greed and other base impulses."[

Batman(1989)

Batman is a 1989 superhero film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman. Tim Burton directed the film, which stars Michael Keaton as Batman, as well as Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger and Robert Wuhl.

The film is the first installment of Warner Brothers' Batman film series, and tells the story of Bruce Wayne romancing with Vicki Vale (played by Basinger). He also deals with the rise of a powerful villain known as "The Joker" (Nicholson).

Michael Uslan and Benjamin Melniker acquired the Batman film rights from DC Comics in 1979, and hired Tom Mankiewicz to write. Producers Jon Peters and Peter Guber joined the production. Before Burton was hired as director, Steve Englehart and Julie Hickson contributed with story treatments.

The role of Batman was considered for numerous A-list actors, while Nicholson accepted the role of the Joker under various strict circumstances that dictated a high salary, box office profits and his shooting schedule.

Filming took place at Pinewood Studios from October 1988 to January 1989, where production designer Anton Furst designed Gotham City with clashing architectural styles to make it the bleakest metropolis imaginable.

The budget escalated from $30 million to $48 million, while the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike forced writer Sam Hamm to leave the set, leaving Warren Skaaren, Charles McKeown and Jonathan Gems to do uncredited rewrites, including the deletion of the character Dick Grayson.

Batman was a critical and financial success. It was the highest grossing film based on a DC comic book, until it was surpassed by 2008's The Dark Knight. Batman received numerous nominations at the 62nd Academy Awards, 47th Golden Globe Awards and The Saturn Awards.

The film inspired Batman: The Animated Series and a series of films. In 1992, producers Uslan and Melniker filed a breach of contract lawsuit as they did not earn any of the film's box office gross.

Filming was highly secretive. The unit publicist was offered and refused £10,000 for the first pictures of Jack Nicholson as The Joker. The police were later called in when two reels of footage (about 20 minutes' worth) were stolen.

Ra's al Ghul Profile

His name is Arabic for "The Demon's Head", In the film Batman Begins, he was played by Liam Neeson (his decoy was played by Ken Watanabe).

Ra's al Ghul is an international terrorist and assassin whose ultimate goal is a world in perfect environmental balance. He believes that the best way to achieve this balance is to eliminate most of humanity. Ra's usually tries to assault the world's human populace with a biological weapon, such as a genetically-engineered virus.

He is aided in this quest by the Lazarus Pits, reservoirs of rejuvenating chemicals that restore the dying to life; these pits have granted him a lifespan of several hundred years.

He considers Batman his most worthy opponent, and has frequently sought to make the Dark Knight his successor. He is one of the few criminals in Batman's rogues gallery to have deduced his secret identity as Bruce Wayne.

For his own part, Batman's opposition to Ra's is complicated by his love for the villain's daughter, Talia.

Ra’s Al Ghul has no superhuman powers; however, he is extremely fit and trained in hand-to-hand combat.

He is an expert swordsman, a master strategist, and very intelligent, stated to be on par with Batman. Ra’s Al Ghul has vast resources and loyal servants at his command.

Harvey Dent/Two Face Profile

WARNING: This post May Contain Images That Are Uncomfortable for some viewers.

The Los Angeles Times quoted Aaron Eckhart, the actor who plays Two-Face in the upcoming Dark Knight movie, as saying…“I can tell you that, basically, when you look at Two-Face, you should get sick to your stomach. Being the guy under all that, well, that was a lot of fun for me. It’s like you would feel if you met someone whose face had pretty much been ripped off or burned off with acid. I can’t talk about it beyond that because I don’t want to give away too much of the plans by Chris.”

As seen by the following picture, it has certaintely proven to be true.



The Dark Knight, the sequel to the 2005 film, Batman Begins introduce the character of Harvey Dent. In the film, Dent is elected to become Gotham's district attorney and tries to rebuild Gotham's image for the better, only to find himself facing The Joker's (Heath Ledger) leadership of the criminal underworld.

Harvey Dent is shown serious but usually laid back with a sense of humor before becoming Two-Face

Two-Face was once Harvey Dent, District Attorney of Gotham City and an ally of Batman. After a criminal disfigures half of his face with acid, Dent becomes the insane crime boss Two-Face, who chooses to do either good or evil depending upon the results of flipping a coin

He obsessively makes all important decisions by flipping a two-headed coin, one side of which is scratched over with an X. The fact that Dent was formerly a friend of Bruce Wayne and an ally of Batman before his scarring colored their now adversarial relationship is also a more prominent element in modern stories.

Dent gets his trademark coin from his abusive father, who would employ the coin in a perverse nightly "game" that would always end with Harvey being beaten. This would instill in Harvey his lifelong struggle with free will and his eventual inability to make choices on his own.

Batman/Bruce Wayne Profile

Batman's secret identity is Bruce Wayne, a multi-billionaire industrialist, playboy, and philanthropist. Witnessing the murder of his parents as a child leads him to train himself to physical and intellectual perfection and don a bat-themed costume in order to fight crime.

Unlike most superheroes, he does not possess any superpowers; he makes use of intellect, detective skills, science and technology, wealth, physical prowess, and intimidation in his war on crime.

Batman is thus driven to fight crime, sometimes employing illegal and morally dubious tactics (like torture and intrusive surveillance), in order to avenge the death of his parents

In his secret identity, Batman is Bruce Wayne, a wealthy businessman who lives in Gotham City. To the world at large, Bruce Wayne is often seen as an irresponsible, superficial playboy who lives off his family's personal fortune.

His family fortune are amassed when Bruce's family invested in Gotham real estate before the city was a bustling metropolis and the profits of Wayne Enterprises, a major private technology firm that he inherits.

However, Wayne is also known for his contributions to charity, notably through his Wayne Foundation charity. Bruce creates the playboy public persona to aid in throwing off suspicion of his secret identity, often acting dim-witted and self-absorbed to further the act

Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman: A billionaire dedicated to protecting Gotham City from the criminal underworld. Bale was confident in his choice to return in the role because of the positive response to his performance in Batman Begins.

He trained in the Keysi Fighting Method, and performed many of his own stunts, but did not gain as much muscle as in the previous film because the new Batsuit allowed him to move with more agility.

The actor described Batman's dilemma as whether "[his crusade is] something that has an end. Can he quit and have an ordinary life? The kind of manic intensity someone has to have to maintain the passion and the anger that they felt as a child, takes an effort after awhile, to keep doing that.


At some point, you have to exorcise your demons." He added, "Now you have not just a young man in pain attempting to find some kind of an answer, you have somebody who actually has power, who is burdened by that power, and is having to recognize the difference between attaining that power and holding on to it."

Bale felt because Batman's personality was strongly established in the first film, it was unlikely his character would be overshadowed by the villains, stating: "I have no problem with competing with someone else. And that's going to make a better movie."

Bale had initial concerns about playing Batman, as he felt more ridiculous than intimidating in the Batman suit. He dealt with this by depicting Batman as a savage beast in his portrayal.

To attain a deeper understanding of the character, Bale read various Batman comic books. He explained his interpretation of the young boy: “Batman is his hidden, demonic rage-filled side.

The creature [Batman] creates is an absolutely sincere creature and one that he has to control but does so in a very haphazard way. He's capable of enacting violence — and to kill — so he's constantly having to rein himself in.” For Bale, the most gruelling part about playing Batman was the suit.

“You stick it on, you get hot, you sweat and you get a headache in the mask,” he said. “But I'm not going to bitch about it because I get to play Batman.” When promoting the film in interviews and public events, Bale reportedly retained Batman's American accent to avoid confusion with Batman being English.

The Scarecrow/Dr. Jonathan Crane

In the 2005 film Batman Begins, as well as the 2008 film The Dark Knight, he was played by Cillian Murphy.

Scarecrow (Dr. Jonathan Crane) is an inane former psychiatrist who uses a variety of drugs and psychological tactics to exploit the fears and phobias of his adversaries. He does not commit his crimes for wealth, but rather as a form of "research" to further study the effects of fear on humans, making the innocent citizens of Gotham City his unwilling guinea pigs.

While he will occasionally commit robbery or other types of larceny, he does so only to get the funding he needs to carry out his experiments. Like many of the Batman villains, he has become a much darker character over the years.

Crane is a psychiatrist with a specialty in phobias. Using a variety of toxins that cause his victims to hallucinate that their phobias have come to life, the Scarecrow can instill fear in all who see him. However, recently he has displayed the ability to literally frighten people to death without relying in the chemical, suggesting a great ability to dominate the human psyche using fear as a weapon.

In Batman Begins, the fear toxin he uses is extracted from a mountaintop blue flower from Tibet, and only works in vapour form. Crane uses his Scarecrow mask to enhance the effect of the hallucinogen as well as to avoid being poisoned by his own toxin.

As the Scarecrow, Crane wears a mask, seemingly a poorly-stitched burlap sack with a hangman's noose dangling around the neck. The mask has a built-in rebreather and acts as a gas mask, and enhances the effect of the hallucinations in his experiments

The Joker Profile

The archenemy of the superhero Batman, the Joker is a master criminal whose characterization has varied from a violent and murderous sociopath, causing chaos and committing crimes for his own amusement, to a goofy and virtually harmless trickster-thief.

The Joker's real identity is unknown, and there have been different takes on his origin; the most common variation depicts him as falling into a vat of chemicals which bleach his skin, turn his hair green and his lips bright red, giving him the appearance of a clown.

He is highly intelligent and very skilled in the fields of chemistry and engineering

The Joker has cheated death numerous times, even in seemingly inescapable and lethal situations. Though he has been seen caught in explosions, been shot repeatedly, dropped from lethal heights, electrocuted, and so on, the Joker always returns to once again wreak havoc

Heath Ledger as The Joker: Heath Ledger described the Joker as a "psychopathic, mass murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy". Nolan had wanted to work with Ledger on a number of projects in the past, but had been unable to do so.

When Ledger saw Batman Begins, he realized a way to make the character work consistent with the film's tone,and Nolan agreed with his anarchic interpretation.

To prepare for the role, Ledger lived alone in a hotel room for a month, formulating the character's posture, voice, and psychology, and kept a diary, in which he recorded the Joker's thoughts and feelings.While he initially found it difficult,

Ledger eventually generated a voice unlike that of Jack Nicholson's character in Tim Burton's 1989 Batman film.

He was also given Batman: The Killing Joke and Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, which he "really tried to read and put it down".

Ledger also cited A Clockwork Orange and Sid Vicious as "a very early starting point for Christian [Bale] and I. But we kind of flew far away from that pretty quickly and into another world altogether."There’s a bit of everything in him. There’s nothing that consistent,"

Ledger said, adding that "There are a few more surprises to him."Before Ledger was confirmed to play the Joker in July 2006,[Paul Bettany, Lachy Hulme, Adrien Brody, Steve Carell,and Robin Williams publicly expressed interest in the role.

On January 22, 2008, after he had completed filming The Dark Knight, Ledger died suddenly, leading to intense press attention and memorial tributes. "It was tremendously emotional, right when he passed, having to go back in and look at him every day," Nolan recalled.

"But the truth is, I feel very lucky to have something productive to do, to have a performance that he was very, very proud of, and that he had entrusted to me to finish."

All of Ledger's scenes appear as he completed them in the filming; in editing the film, Nolan added no "digital effects" to alter Ledger's actual performance posthumously.

Nolan has dedicated the film in part to Ledger's memory, as well as to the memory of technician Conway Wickliffe, who was killed during a car accident while preparing one of the film's stunts.

Along with other film critics, audience members, and many of Ledger's colleagues in the film community, his costars Christian Bale, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Michael Caine have called for a posthumous Academy Award in recognition of Ledger's achievement as an actor in this film

Even film critic David Denby, who does not praise the film overall in his pre-release review in The New Yorker, evaluates Ledger's work highly, describing his performance as both "sinister and frightening" and Ledger as "mesmerising in every scene", concluding: "His performance is a heroic, unsettling final act: this young actor looked into the abyss."