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There's no doubt it was a great performance, but the thing is, Ledger took the character and made it his own, he didn't play it like someone else did, he gave an amazing performance of someone who wasn't quite ticking along with the rest of the world, but it was different from what we've seen before.
Now, if someone else were to come along and try to emulate that performance, then yes, it won't be better than Ledger and won't be worth it, but if a talented actor came along and, like Ledger, took the character and made it his own, gave a new take on the character, I see no reason why it wouldn't be good enough. I believe someone working on TDK had said that Nolan wouldn't let Heath's death mess with any story they might have wanted to do with the Joker later on and that one has to separate the actor from the character and that's precisely what should be done.
I'm sorry, I miss Ledger, he was a great actor, and he gave a really great performance as the Joker, but the Joker isn't his character. The Joker had been around long before he was even an actor, he's been played by so many people before and should be played by so many people after. He is so ingrained in our consciousness now, it's not right that the film character should die along with Heath.
Think of it this way, had Heath not died, and they'd put him in the next movie, and maybe even one after that... would anyone, anywhere be asking for the Joker to be retired because it's "the best performance"? No, you're only doing this because Heath died and that's wrong. People aren't even giving other actors a chance here. Heath Ledger wasn't the be all, end all of acting, there are other people out there just as talented if not more talented than Heath was and by saying no one would ever be able to do better than him simply means you're a closed minded fanboy.
/rant
If Heath had not passed away, he would have taken the performance through the roof. But Jack eluded to something the role does to the sole. He indicted he almost bought the farm late one night while driving. After getting off his high horse, Jack wanted to reach out to Heath about this, or so he says. The same goes for any role brought from comic book to the big screen.
That's why they call it acting, you want to see who can perform/improve the character from the last actor.
Not only does this deal (or at least postpone) the Joker situation, it brings in a relatively unknown and well-known character to the Dark Knight Series.
Just checking.
Feel free to set the bar high for Hunter, though.
The Joker has gone through some very distinct phases in terms of characterisation in the comics, and each incarnation in screen and film has reflected those changes. Just like how Romero's 60s Joker was a spot-on representation of the character at the time, Ledger's is the vicious post-90s Joker comic readers are familiar with today.
When the character in the comics changes again (and it will), there'll be plenty of room for another actor and film-franchise / tv show to represent it.
I don't want any more Joker from Nolan. I may have even felt that was if Health Ledger was still alive, because I really enjoy seeing new different characters in each film and having a new primary villain just seems to me to be appropriate.
But asking him to be left out of cinema for good, that just weakens their point with the asinine-ness of it.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that "retiring" the Joker character after Ledger's death would be counter-productive to continuing the story Nolan wants to tell. Ledger's performance is already immortalized, but I would love to see somebody top it.
That new /cut from TDK is Heath Ledger as the Joker in arkam mental hospital.
???
Yes Ledger was an awesome Joker but saying someone else could never live up to his performance is a slap in the face to anyone who 1. has played the Joker in the past and 2. to the many who could if need be take Ledger's place and do either the same or maybe (I said maybe) even better a job
I will use Brandon Lee as an example of this, his greatest role and his last was as The Crow. Did they honor his memory and make it the first and last in the series? Hell no, they ran the franchise into the ground and sucked every penny they could out of it.
Who said it had to be a main character? I put to you that the Joker is better known than The Crow.