Christopher Nolan, the writer/director of "The Dark Knight," envisioned a punk rocker for Heath Ledger's take on the Joker character. Nolan was inspired by Sex Pistols' band member Johnny Rotten's portrayal in the film biography "Sid and Nancy," which ironically starred "Dark Knight" cast member Gary Oldman as Sid Vicious.
"The Dark Knight" is the sequel to "Batman Begins." Time has passed since the last film and a Gotham "Trinity" composed of Lt. Jim Gordon (Oldman), district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) and Batman (Christian Bale) are dealing a powerful blow to organized crime. But things take a dark turn when a new criminal mastermind, the Joker (Ledger), thrusts Gotham into chaos. The battle becomes personal and pushes Batman closer to that thin line separating hero and vigilante.
Before his death in January, Ledger described the Joker to the New York Times as a "psychopathic, mass murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy." Ledger actually helped develop certain concepts about the character even late into the writing phase.
Nolan explained that Joker is not some ordinary criminal looking to make a fortune in crime; rather he is purely in it for the anarchy.
"I talked to Heath a lot about it, even [while] we were finishing the script," Nolan said. "And we both agreed that that is the most threatening force, really, in a way, that society faces: ... pure anarchy of someone who wants to do harm purely for its own sake and for his own entertainment."
"The Dark Knight" hits theaters July 18.
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