Sorry but IMHO Heath Ledger doesn’t carry the weight necessary to play this crucial role.
Rumored to have been in the running was Christopher Eccleston (Elizabeth, Gone in 60 Seconds, etc). He would have been a much better choice.
My excitement for this movie has just plunged.
What movie? 
Link?
The Dark Knight. Sequel to Batman Begins.
I was rooting for Paul Bettany.
I still think Crispin Glover would make a great joker. He’s tall, thin and does creepy really well.
Heat Ledger is too young and pretty IMO.
Well, what’s wrong with Jack Nicholson?
He was too old and fat for the role 18 years ago.
Wayne Knight
Josh Weinstein
Horatio Sanz
Charo
Rondo Hatton
I don’t know, he’s awfully good beyond just being a pretty boy. Plus, he’s not all that young anymore. I’m betting he’ll do a damn fine job. (Of course I have all kinds of faith in the writers-directors producers of this go round since they’re the first people to actually make a Batman movie and get it right. (I mean, you know, apart from Timm)
Brokeback Joker?
Cue the Batman/Joker slash fanfiction.
I agree with Crispin Glover - creepy/smart
I thought Cillian Murphy was kinda wasted as the Scarecrow - he had that dead-eye creepy intelligence thing going that couple with his wiry build made me see him as Joker when I was watching the movie.
Heath Ledger can act, I will give him that - but his most notable role thus far is for BBM, where his character was supposed to keep his feelings all in - the Joker is the exact opposite…
Ledger is a good actor and Christopher Nolan has shown the ability to be able to adapt the material in an intelligent, believable way, without laughing at it and without beoming overwhelmed by FX or CGI. Of course, the fact that Batman has no “superpowers” makes it easier to ground the franchise in reality but some of Nolan’s other ideas helped as well (I think that Bruce Wayne’s deliberate choice to make Batman a “symbol” helped with the credibility of the costume, for instance).
I’m willing to trust the director on this and have some faith that he’ll find a take on the Joker (and the casting) that will work for his vision of the mythology.
I think Katie Holmes is the real albotross for the franchise.
Considering how well they cast the first one, and how unusually they intend to play it with casting Heath Ledger at all, I think it’s too early to cast any kind of judgement.
Would your first choice for “Capote” have been Philip Seymour Hoffman? Give him a chance.
That’s what it comes down to, really. They could have actually cast Wayne Knight and I’d still have faith. Batman Begins was just that good.
Damn. I was kinda hoping for Paul Reubens.
I hope the sequel is better than the first. It was very well-produced, but the story kinda limped a bit in the end.
[rant]And I was just watching the bonus features disc, where the director and screenplay-writer-guy were both bragging that, before this film, no one had explored Bruce Wayne’s life between his parents’ murders and his first gig as Batman. All while showing clips from Frank Miller’s (brilliant) “Batman Year One” comic, which focuses on exactly this aspect of the character. Hell, I remember reading a comic series as a kid that started just before the muders, and ended with his first or second adventure as the Dark Knight. I don’t kow where the director was coming from with his boast that no one’s done this before, but it didn’t exactly inspire confidence in me…[/rant]