Though he will not appear – or even be mentioned, for that matter – in The Dark Knight Rises, no discussion of the film or its eponymous character can be reasonably made without his arch nemesis, The Joker. He is arguably the most famous comic book villain in history and has been featured in just about every media translation of Batman’s stories. As has been brought up often in their conflicts together, it could very well be argued that the two are inseparable forces that have come to define one another in their long history together.
For a character that has become a staple of the franchise, The Joker was not originally conceived as such a longstanding addition to Batman’s rogue’s gallery. Introduced in Batman #1 in 1940, the initial plan was to kill him off after his second appearance until a last-minute plea from Editor Whitney Ellsworth caused a hastily-drawn panel showing the villain surviving his stab wound, tormenting the Caped Crusader ever since, and the story of who actually created an initially brief antagonist became a lot more disputed. Prolific comic book artist Jerry Robinson went to his grave insisting that he was the man who created The Joker, but Bob Kane tells a different story: Read more on Understanding the Character: The Joker…
Tags: batman, Batman: The Animated Series, Best Supporting Actor, Caesar Romero, Christopher Nolan, Heath Ledger, Jack Nicholson, The Dark Knight, the dark knight rises, The Joker, Understanding the Character Series
