The late Heath Ledger’s performance of The Joker in The Dark Knight was beyond anything that anyone could expect from Joker. Heath Ledger single-handedly reinvented the character and made his mark in the Batman film canon. Here are 5 more reasons why it became iconic:
The Joker Was Actually Scary
Before Heath Ledger’s Joker, all the celluloid versions of the Clown Prince of Crime were more of the campy versions. Heath Ledger made his own path with his version, scaring his audience with his psychopathic acts. There was no rhyme or real reason to his acts, apart from the fact that he terrorized the people of Gotham with bombs, blowing up a hospital dressed as a nurse…the list is endless. The scene where he slices open a man’s face into an upward smile while talking about his childhood(made up or not) was particularly a chilling scene to witness.
The Joker’s Makeover
In the comics, The Joker got his white complexion after being doused in the chemical. Heath Ledger gave his Joker a bit of a backstory, one where the character wore the clown make up messy and unkempt. He even smeared chalk all over his hands to remind the audience that The Joker did his own make-up and he just did not care about great finishing.
