| Joker | |
|---|---|
| The Dark KnightTrilogy character | |
 Heath Ledger as The Joker inThe Dark Knight (2008) | |
| First appearance | The Dark Knight (2008) |
| Last appearance | The Dark Knight (2008) |
| Based on | |
| Adapted by | |
| Portrayed by | Heath Ledger |
| In-universe information | |
| Occupation | Criminal |
TheJoker is a fictional character portrayed byHeath Ledger and the mainantagonist inChristopher Nolan's 2008 superhero filmThe Dark Knight. Based on theDC Comicssupervillainof the same name, he is depicted as apsychopathic criminal mastermind with a warped,sadistic sense of humor who defines himself by his conflict with the vigilanteBatman. In the film, the Joker tests how far Batman will go to saveGotham City from descending into chaos by targeting the Caped Crusader's allies, including police lieutenantJames Gordon and district attorneyHarvey Dent.
Ledger's portrayal of the Joker as an avatar of anarchy and chaos was specifically influenced by the graphic novelsBatman: The Killing Joke andArkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth. He wears the character's traditional purple and green color palette, while his disfigured clown-like appearance is the result of smeared makeup that covers the facial scars of aGlasgow smile (rather than bleached white skin from falling into a tank of chemical waste, like in the source material). Paintings byFrancis Bacon, the character ofAlex inAnthony Burgess' novelA Clockwork Orange andStanley Kubrick's film adaptationof the same name, and variouspunk rock musicians served as additional inspirations for Ledger's performance.
Although Ledger's casting as the Joker was initially controversial, it is now widely considered to be his finest performance; Ledger himself regarded it as his most enjoyable. When the film was released in July 2008, six months after Ledger died from an accidental prescriptiondrug overdose, his performance as the Joker received widespread acclaim and earned numerous posthumous accolades, including theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Ledger's Joker is often listed as one of the greatest and most iconic villains in film andpopular culture and has become one of the most notable media adaptations of the character.
I feel like this is an opportunity for me to not take myself too seriously, and for some reason, I just gravitated towards [The Joker] and I knew I had something to give to him. And I just instantly had an idea of how to do it.
On 31 July 2006,The Dark Knight was officially announced byWarner Bros. Pictures andHeath Ledger was cast as the Joker.[2] DirectorChristopher Nolan had met with Ledger over the years for different roles, including the part of Batman inBatman Begins. Ledger explained that he was not interested in working on superhero films: "I would just feel stupid and silly. I couldn't pull it off and there are other people who can perfectly, but I just couldn't take myself seriously".[3][4][1][5] After seeing and being impressed withBatman Begins, however, Ledger sought the part of the Joker in its sequel.[4] Nolan cast Ledger before there was a script due to his determination, stating, "Heath was just ready to do it, he was ready to do something that big."[6][3][7] Casting directorJohn Papsidera stated that they needed somebody courageous to play the part.[8]Joaquin Phoenix, who later portrayed the Joker in the eponymous2019 film, was offered the role by Nolan, but he turned it down as he "wasn’t ready then".[9]
As a starting actor, Ledger did not attach himself seriously to the roles he was playing. This changed, however, when at age 22 he started to watch some of his films. Realizing that they were movies he himself might not actually have wanted to see, it made him more cautious and respectful towards his professional choices.[10] The 2005 fantasy filmThe Brothers Grimm marked a turning point for the actor as directorTerry Gilliam gave Ledger (and his co-star,Matt Damon) opportunities to create characters they had not been given before.[11] Gilliam helped Ledger put on a clown act for that film, an experience the actor later acknowledged as an influence for his performance as the Joker.[10]
"Everything about what he does from every gesture, every little facial tic, everything he's doing with his voice—it all speaks to the heart of this character. It all speaks to this idea of a character who's devoted to a concept of pure anarchy and chaos. It's hard to get a handle on how those elements combine. The physicality reminds me of the great silent comedians. It has a bit of[Buster] Keaton and[Charlie] Chaplin about it."
Highlighting the opportunity for freshness, Ledger aimed for a new and different interpretation of the character, separate from previous film incarnations.[7] Ledger and Christopher Nolan both explained seeing eye-to-eye on the Joker's appearance in the film, sharing common reference points for who the character was going to be.[7] Based on philosophical ideas ofanarchy andchaos, they looked at art byFrancis Bacon for visual reference and they talked aboutMalcolm McDowell's performance asAlex inStanley Kubrick's filmA Clockwork Orange, and who Alex is inAnthony Burgess'novel of the same name.[3] Ledger was givenAlan Moore's graphic novelBatman: The Killing Joke for preparation for the role, as well asGrant Morrison's graphic novelArkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, which he "really tried to read and put it down".[13] The vocal style Ledger used is rumored to be influenced byTom Waits.[14] In an interview withMTV, Ledger said he regarded the experience playing the Joker as the most fun he ever had, "and probably will ever have".[15]
Steve Alexander, Ledger's agent, said the actor had a "pay-or-play" deal onThe Dark Knight, "so he felt free to do whatever he wanted to do as the Joker, no matter how crazy." According toThe Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus cinematographerNicola Pecorini, Ledger had talked with him aboutJohnny Depp's off-kilter portrayal ofJack Sparrow inPirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl in relation toThe Dark Knight, aiming to make a performance that would be "so far out he'd be fired".[16] As Ledger was cast early inpre-production, Nolan explained that the actor had "months and months" to prepare for the role.[17]
"Inside. He's laughing red and black and red and black till there's nothing left to laugh. Until, almost tenderly, he turns inside out through his mouth."
During a span of six weeks, Heath Ledger secluded himself in a London hotel room, compiling a character diary and experimenting with voices. "It's a combination of reading all the comic books I could that were relevant to the script and then just closing my eyes and meditating on it", he said about his process.[19] The diary contains photos, news clippings, various handwritten thoughts and words, and portions of dialogue from the film.Christopher Hooton, writing forThe Independent, said that the 'Joker journal' had several stills fromStanley Kubrick's filmA Clockwork Orange,joker cards, photos ofhyenas, unhinged clown makeup and the word "chaos" highlighted in green. Furthermore, it contains a list of things the Joker would find funny, such asAIDS,landmines, and geniuses suffering brain damage.[18] It was revealed that Ledger had readGrant Morrison'sThe Clown at Midnight (Batman #663) and based the list upon the Batman writer's prose.[20]
Ledger highlighted the importance of finding an iconic voice and laugh for the character, relating the voice as "the key to the demented killer".[21] Nolan explained Ledger's early and "peculiar" ambition for the voice of the character, saying that the actor had studied the wayventriloquist dummies talk. The filmmaker also acknowledged that the voice performance was based on theAlexander technique.[22]
Ledger developed the Joker's voice and mannerisms slowly over time and during camera tests. "Don't act, just read it", Nolan had told Ledger for a test screening. In hair and makeup tests, Ledger would start exploring the movements of the character. While test recording without sound, he shared his take on the Joker's voice and physicality, and "in that way he sort of sneaked upon it".[17]
The actor developed the physical appearance of the character, being "very involved" with the painting of his face, says prosthetic supervisor Conor O'Sullivan.[7] O'Sullivan acknowledged how Ledger, Nolan, and makeup artist John Caglione all gravitated towards a Francis Bacon painting Nolan was referring to. Ledger also got to choose the Joker's weapon among different rubber knives, and he worked closely with costume designer Lindy Hemming on deciding the look for the character.
Nolan noted, "We gave aFrancis Bacon spin to [his face]. This corruption, this decay in the texture of the look itself. It's grubby. You can almost imagine what he smells like."[23] Costume designerLindy Hemming picked inspiration for the "chaotic" look from suchcounterculturalpop culture artists asIggy Pop,Johnny Rotten, andSid Vicious.[7][24] She gave the image for the Joker of someone who is "very sweaty" and who "probably doesn't have a proper home". She tried to present a backstory for the character "that he really doesn't look after himself".[7]
Application of Ledger's makeup was done with the actor scrunching specialfacial expressions. Caglione called the application work "a dance". This technique created facial textures for white paint. As Ledger closed his eyes tight, Caglione put on the black makeup. Then, water was sprayed over the eyes and the actor would squeeze his eyes and shake his head to create imperfections in the makeup.[25]
To get in character for filming, Ledger kept his Joker diary with him on set and frequently referred to it. Between takes, Ledger would stay in costume and makeup just being himself. The actor would fool around, skateboarding while in his Joker costume on set, and smoking cigarettes. John Caglione described Ledger as helping others around to relax, never letting "the intense nature of the roles overwhelm him".[26]
The first sequence shot was the film'sIMAX opening, the "prologue". As the Joker wears a mask through the scene with minimal dialogue, Nolan set the prologue first in the schedule because he wanted to put off performance worries, allowing Ledger to enjoy that relief.[17]
The interrogation scene between Batman and the Joker was the first scene shot with Ledger really showing the full performance altogether.[17] The director and his leading actors all liked the idea of shooting the key scene early on. During rehearsals, the actors kept things loose and improvisational, saving for the actual shoot. Bale confirmed that Ledger did not perform the Joker's voice during rehearsals, waiting to get in character when the cameras rolled.[27] Nolan later acknowledged the scene to be his favorite in the film, saying "I had never seen anybody sell a punch the way Heath was able to do with Christian."[28]
Ledger was allowed to shoot and direct the threat videos the Joker sends out as warnings. Each take Ledger made was different from the last. Nolan was impressed enough with the first video shoot that he chose to not be present when Ledger shot the video with a kidnapped reporter (Anthony Michael Hall).[29]
Ledger always showed up early on set. The first thing he would do, according to Caglione, was to give bear hugs to cast and crew members around the set. "And no matter how banged-up or bruised Heath was after a long day, after we'd take off the last drop of makeup, he'd just hug everybody in the trailer before he left".[30] At the end of shooting, on his Joker diary's final page, Ledger wrote "BYE BYE".[31]
On 22 January 2008, after he had completed filmingThe Dark Knight, Ledger died, aged 28, of an accidentalprescription drug overdose, 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 [during editing]", 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".[32] 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.[33] Nolan dedicated the film in part to Ledger's memory.[34][35]
Ledger's death affected the marketing campaign forThe Dark Knight[36] and both the production and marketing ofTerry Gilliam's filmThe Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus; both Nolan and Gilliam celebrated and paid tribute to Ledger's work in these films.[32][36][37][38] During production ofThe Dark Knight,Michael Jai White's Gambol was meant to survive his confrontation with Ledger's Joker, which would have resulted in the Joker giving Gambol a Glasgow smile of his own and enabling the filmmakers to reuse Gambol in the future,[39] with White commenting that Gambol was supposed to have a bigger role in further sequels, returning to Gotham City and trying to take it over.[40] After Ledger's passing, Nolan cut Gambol's later scenes and edited the confrontation to suggest but not actually show his death, something White did not find out until seeing the premiere.[39]
WriterDavid S. Goyer's original intent for theBatman Begins sequels in 2005 involved the Joker being apprehended by Batman with the aid of Commissioner Gordon and Harvey Dent in the second film and the Joker scarring Dent during his trial in the third film.[41] However, most aspects of Goyer'sfilm treatments were absorbed intoThe Dark Knight.[42] According to Ledger's sister Kate, Ledger was planning to reprise his role as the Joker for another film,[43] a notion supported byAaron Eckhart, who recalled that Ledger had planned to return in a sequel.[44] Nolan ultimately decided that the Joker would not return inThe Dark Knight Rises and dispelled rumors that he would use unused footage fromThe Dark Knight to bring Ledger back.[45]
Ledger described the Joker as a "psychopathic,mass murdering,schizophrenicclown with zeroempathy".[46] He embodies themes of chaos, anarchy and obsession, expressing a desire to upset Gotham's social order through crime and his conflict with Batman. After their first fight, Batman struggles to understand exactly what the Joker's motivations are. Alfred suggests that he might be motivated solely by the thrill of the crime, commenting "Some men just want to watch the world burn."
The Joker's hair is stringy, unkempt, and dyed green. His face is covered by a cracked, smeared and runny layer of white clown makeup, while hissunken eyes are thickly rimmed in black and his teeth are yellowed.[47] A red grin is sloppily painted across his mouth and cheeks, covering the facial scars of aGlasgow smile.[27] Wearing the character's traditional color palette from the comics, the Joker is dressed in a light purple shirt with a thin medium-toned purple tie and a greenwaistcoat, topped by a dark purple overcoat; he also wears purple pants and leather gloves, the former marked with pinstripes. The film reveals that his clothing is custom-made, with no labels. The patterns and designs chosen were popular during theVictorian andEdwardian periods; however, they are given an eccentric twist with the purple and green color palette. The Joker's shoes have an upward swoop at the toe, reminiscent of clown shoes.[27]
Joker carries no identification of any kind, and offers no clear details about his true name or background. For instance, Joker offers a variety of often self-contradictory accounts of how he got his scars: simultaneously claiming he inflicted them upon himself to console his wife (who was similarly scarred over a dispute with a loan shark), and that they were inflicted upon him by his father during a domestic dispute. When he is arrested by the Gotham City police, they find only knives and lint in his pockets.
The character's mannerisms carry a quality of unpredictability. His voice frequently shifts in pitch, so that he speaks his dialogue hitting higher notes, followed by an immediate lower voice capable of landing two octaves below. Nolan acknowledges this unpredictability to be part of the character's slinky physical movements as well, saying that Ledger's performance is "always a surprise".[17] About the Joker's physical appearance, Geoff Boucher wrote for theLos Angeles Times that the character probes the facial scars with his tongue and "walks with shoulders bowed and his chin out and down, like a hyena".[48]
At the end ofBatman Begins, newly promoted LieutenantJames Gordon (Gary Oldman) tellsBatman (Christian Bale) about a criminal who leaves behindjoker playing cards at crime scenes.
In the opening scene ofThe Dark Knight, the Joker assembles a gang of masked criminals to rob amafia-controlled bank and tricks them into killing one another, leaving him to escape with the money as the only survivor.
The Joker interrupts a meeting between mob bossesSal Maroni (Eric Roberts), Gambol (Michael Jai White) and the Chechen (Ritchie Coster), who are discussing a plan to hide their money from the police. He warns them that Batman will go after their accountant Lau (Ng Chin Han) inHong Kong and then offers to kill Batman for half of their fortune. Gambol, furious at the Joker's robbery and upon being insulted by him, refuses and puts out a contract on the Joker's life, prompting the Joker to kill him and take over his gang. When Batman captures Lau, whose testimony threatens the crime families, Maroni and the Chechen take the Joker's offer. The Joker kills a Batman impersonator and states that killings will continue until Batman reveals his identity. He makes good on his word and targets public figures involved in the mob trial, killing judge Janet Surillo (Nydia Rodriguez Terracina) and police commissionerGillian B. Loeb (Colin McFarlane), respectively using a bomb and a cup filled with acid, although Gordon saves Mayor Anthony Garcia (Néstor Carbonell). The Joker also targets district attorneyHarvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) at a fundraising dinner and throws his girlfriendRachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) out of a window, but Batman rescues her.
When Dent claims he is Batman to use himself as bait, the Joker attacks the police convoy transporting him and is apprehended by Batman and Gordon. Under Batman's interrogation, the Joker mocks him for believing in moral principles. Having guessed Batman's feelings for Rachel, he reveals that corrupt police officers kidnapped her and Dent to separate locations. Batman races to save Rachel while Gordon goes to save Dent, but they discover the Joker switched their locations, knowing that it would psychologically torment them and to orchestrate Dent’s downfall. Rachel is killed in the explosion, while Dent is severely burned. The Joker escapes custody with Lau, forces him to give up the location of the mob's money, and sets it on fire, burning Lau alive. He then takes over the Chechen's gang, leaving the latter to be killed by his own dogs.
To preventWayne Enterprises accountant Coleman Reese (Joshua Harto) from exposing Batman's identity on live television, the Joker threatens to blow up a hospital unless Reese is killed. While the police are diverted evacuating hospitals and protecting Reese, the Joker meets with a disillusioned Dent in the hospital and persuades him to turn vigilante. He later destroys the hospital and kidnaps a busload of patients. As panic grips the city, the Joker rigs two evacuation ferries — one for civilian passengers and the other for prisoners — with explosives, threatening to blow them both up unless one group sacrifices the other by midnight. Batman tracks him to an unfinished skyscraper, where he has disguised the hostages as henchmen to mislead the police. The ferry passengers spare each other as Batman saves the patients, subdues the cops and captures the Joker, but the latter boasts that he has already won by corrupting Dent. Batman finds and kills Dent before the corrupted attorney can kill Gordon's family. He then thwarts the Joker by taking the blame for Dent's crimes.
The Joker is not mentioned inThe Dark Knight Rises as Nolan felt it was "inappropriate" to acknowledge "a real-life tragedy" in referencing Ledger's death.[49] However, the film novelization byGreg Cox makes reference to the character while describingBlackgate Prison:
Now that the Dent Act had made it all but impossible to cop aninsanity plea, it had replacedArkham Asylum as the preferred location for imprisoning both convicted and suspected felons. The worst of the worst were sent here, except for the Joker, who, rumor had it, was locked away as Arkham's sole remaining inmate. Or perhaps he had escaped. Nobody was really sure. Not evenSelina.[50][51]
The casting decision surprised some[52] and was seen as a controversial move at the time,[53] receiving notable negative reactions on the Internet.[54][55] Nolan remembered the cynicism he endured surrounding Ledger's casting, saying that "the whole world turned around and said 'What are you doing?' You know, Heath Ledger, Joker, didn't make any sense to people at all."[3] In his 2016 bookThe Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture,NPR contributorGlen Weldon recalled thatfans were outraged over the choice of Ledger, due to his past roles in films such asBrokeback Mountain (2005).[56]
However, with the first trailer released in 2007, the film and its portrayal of the Joker received very positive response from audiences and entertainment industry professionals alike. Mexican filmmakerGuillermo del Toro gushed of his impression for Ledger's performance, finding it "really, really edgy and scary". American Batman writersPaul Dini andJeph Loeb both chimed with the positive reactions. Loeb, who had been critical ofJack Nicholson'sportrayal of the Joker in 1989'sBatman, expressed his excitement for Ledger's interpretation, saying the casting felt "just about right. I eagerly anticipate more!"[57]
"Heath Ledger is magnificent. The Joker, incarnated with chilling authority by the actor, is simply one of the most twisted and mesmerizing creeps in movie history."
Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker received universal acclaim, winning numerous posthumous awards for his performance, including theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actor,[59] aGolden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture,[60] theBAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role,[61] theSaturn Award for Best Supporting Actor,[62] aScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role,[63] and a Best Actor International Award at the 2008Australian Film Institute Awards.[64]
"I can only speak superlatives of Ledger, who is mad-crazy-brilliant as the Joker", wrotePeter Travers ofRolling Stone, stating that the film is deeper than itspredecessor, with a "deft" script that refuses to scrutinize the Joker withpopular psychology.[65] Travers praised the cast, saying each brings their"'A' game" to the film.[65] Travers said Ledger moves the Joker away fromJack Nicholson's interpretation into darker territory, and expressed his support for any potential campaign to have Ledger nominated for anAcademy Award.[65]Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times stated that Heath Ledger's portrayal is a "key performance" and pondered whether he would become thefirst posthumous Academy Award-winning actor sincePeter Finch in1976.[66]
Mark Dinning fromEmpire magazine called Ledger's performance "monumental" and wrote "The Dark Knight is Ledger's movie. It is atowering performance. ... A force of nature".[67]Kevin Smith commented on Ledger, calling his "incredible" performance among "the most frightening, smart and well-played villains ever.Ever."[68] Mark Lee, writing forThe Daily Telegraph, commented that Ledger accomplished "a genuinely unsettling, brilliant nuanced portrait of evil". Tim Teeman commented forThe Times that "Ledger is so terrifying and unpredictable that his very presence on screen makes you nervous."Total Film reviewed that Ledger is "burning brightly as he embodies an icon. ... This is the definitive Joker", calling the performance "a masterpiece". ForThe Hollywood Reporter, Kirk Honeycutt called Ledger's performance "a beauty".[69]Entertainment Weekly put the film on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Every great hero needs a great villain. And in 2008, Christian Bale's Batman found his in Heath Ledger's demented dervish, the Joker."[70]Emanuel Levy wrote Ledger "throws himself completely" into the role.[71]David Denby ofThe New Yorker, otherwise critical of the film, praised Ledger's "sinister and frightening" performance, which he says is the film's one element of success. Denby called Ledger "mesmerising" and said, "His performance is a heroic, unsettling final act: this young actor looked into the abyss."[72] "It's just one of the most iconic movie performances of modern times", declared chief film critic ofVariety Scott Foundas.[8] In 2009,Total Film issued its "The 150 Greatest Performances of All Time" list, ranking Ledgers' performance inThe Dark Knight at 105th place.[73]
Film critics, co-starsMaggie Gyllenhaal andMichael Caine, and many of Ledger's colleagues in the film community joined Bale in calling for and predicting a nomination for the2008 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in recognition of Ledger's performance inThe Dark Knight, which he would go on to receive and win.[74]
In 2022, Clayton Davis ofVariety ranked Ledger's portrayal as the Joker the best superhero movie performance in the past 50 years.[75]
Ledger's Joker is referenced inThe Office episode "Employee Transfer", in which Dwight Schrute, Creed Bratton, and Kevin Malone all dress up as the character for Halloween.[76]
Bérénice Marlohe cited Ledger's performance as the Joker as an inspiration for her portrayal ofSévérine in theJames Bond filmSkyfall, specifically in regards to Sévérine's psychological instability, which Marlohe added to her performance in a subtle way, as the script didn't make theBond girl's "craziness" obvious.[77]Seth Gabel was pitched to playCount Vertigo inArrow as a character inspired by Ledger's Joker, which he felt incredibly intimidating for him initially, so to avoid being redundant, Gabel tried to find his own version of the level of freedon Ledger's Joker had, an intimate relationship to violence and psychosis of his own.[78]Iwan Rheon admitted to have used Ledger's Joker as a reference for his performance asRamsay Bolton inGame of Thrones.[79] In regards toJesse Eisenberg's performance asLex Luthor in theDC Extended Universe (DCEU) filmBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,Ben Affleck compared Eisenberg's Luthor to Ledger's Joker, feeling that Luthor was the best character in the film due to being grounded to reality and that Eisenberg improved all of his scenes to the point of creating a "whole psychology" for Luthor instead of portraying him as a "one-dimensional" villain.[80] On playingN'Jadaka / Erik "Killmonger" Stevens in theMarvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) filmBlack Panther,Michael B. Jordan expressed his admiration for both Ledger's Joker performance, feeling that Ledger's portrayal, as well asMichael Fassbender'sMagneto, motivated an actor to deliver an awesome performance as a comic book movie villain.[81] Discussing his forthcoming portrayal asKang the Conqueror in the MCU filmAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania in anticipation of his further appearances as the character inAvengers: The Kang Dynasty andAvengers: Secret Wars, fellow Marvel actorJonathan Majors named Ledger's Joker as one of his inspirations to play Kang, having admired his Joker version for how far Ledger was willing to physically go during filming ofThe Dark Knight and for his character's complexity of good and evil, the latter deeply connecting with Majors due to growing up with a few criminals who displayed moral duality from time to time.[82] To play The Tracker inJohn Wick: Chapter 4,Shamier Anderson looked at and studied Ledger's Joker due to both characters similarly lacking a backstory, wondering himself on how his character ended up the person he is in the film and even having his character's notebook taken home to write on it or engraving his name in several of the character's items, crediting that for the positive response The Tracker has received from theJohn Wick fans.[83] Ledger'sThe Dark Knight co-starDavid Dastmalchian revealed that in order to play Jack Delroy inLate Night with the Devil, theCairnes brothers sent him footage ofDon Lane, reminding him of the interview he had with Tom Waits that inspired Ledger's Joker, finding pretty cool the likelihood of shared inspiration.[84] On designing the titular character of his upcoming filmWolf Man,Leigh Whannell said that despite allwerewolf designs across cinema, his biggest inspiration was Ledger's Joker due to staying true to the original character but taking it to another level, so he did that but creating his own version of a werewolf with makeup artistArjen Tuiten.[85]
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