Ledger fans demand the Joker retired from film

LONDON, England (CNN) -- A group of Heath Ledger fans have taken their reverence for the late "The Dark Knight" star to a whole new level.
Heath Ledger fans at Web site, The Ultimate Joker, launched a petition calling for studios to remove The Joker from future Batman movies.

Heath Ledger fans launched a petition calling for studios to remove the Joker from future Batman movies.

Followers of the actor, who electrified audiences with his chilling reinvention of the Joker in the second Batman blockbuster, are calling for the character to be retired from the movies permanently.

Ledger supporters at new Web site, The Ultimate Joker, launched a petition last week calling for studios to remove the Joker from any future Batman movies. The petition currently has 2,431 supporters.

"We think Heath deserves this honor," the site's team leader, Fer Barbella, told CNN from Buenos Aires, Argentina. "He is the ultimate Joker.

"We are Batman fans from the comics and from the movies," he said, "After we saw 'The Dark Knight,' we thought this Joker was really the best. It deserves to be withdrawn from any Batman sequels.

"When Michael Jordan retired, they withdrew the number 23 jersey as an honor. It's the same thing with Heath."

Barbella said he thinks any new performance just won't be able to top Ledger's.
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"He upgraded the character in a thrilling way," he said. "Although a lot of actors would love the chance to play the Joker, as Batman fans and now Heath Ledger fans, we think no one could ever perform it as well as he did."

The Web site is the brainchild of Barbella, 34 Nico Pimentel, 33 and Natalia Rodoni, 33, all advertising creatives in Buenos Aires.

The trio say that if they collect enough names, they may go to the studio to present their petition.

"As soon as we start seeing that we have more than 50,000 names on our Web site, perhaps we will go to the Warner Brothers gate and do a bit of activism," Pimentel said.

The huge buzz around Ledger's performance as the Joker last year stemmed from his update of the iconic character played by camp comedian Cesar Romero and as a hateful clown by Jack Nicholson.

Ledger's Joker was a very different proposition from those that had come before: In a ripped, stained suit, with clown makeup smeared across a scarred, twisted mouth, his Joker was a nihilistic, sociopathic prankster. "Why so serious?" he sneered in a performance that received rave reviews from critics globally. Do you agree that Heath Ledger's Joker should be the last one ever?

The actor was found dead after overdosing on prescription drugs at his apartment in New York on January 22, 2008, shortly after concluding work on "The Dark Knight."

Ledger has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the Joker, having been awarded a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor and a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor.

Barbella says that the Web site and petition are their award: "The Academy gives an Oscar," he said. "This is a new award from the people. A user-generated award."

link to story

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/02/12/ledgerjokercampaign.screeningroom/index.html

wow i thought he did a good job but to totaly retire the joker character would be insane

Sigh, some people should be retired from Earth. Like people who have nothing better to do than create ridiculous petitions.

Dumb, dumb, dumb

Look, Ledger may be the best Joker ever, but that's no reason to retire the character from further films. If anything, it presents a huge challenge and admiration for any actor to fill those shoes, and that's exactly what their profession is all about.

Hopefully, Warner tells these idiots to go piss up a rope.

So by that logic Dracula should be retired as a character because Bela Lugosi is dead. Ledgers performance was good but he didn't even originate the role. He's just another in a line of people with their own interpretation. Let it go.

It sounded to me like they were just referring to sequels to Nolan's series of Batman movies (Begins/Dark Knight) and not to the Joker as a character anywhere anytime. If that is the case I 100% agree, having another actor replace Ledger would just be a huge letdown.

While Heaths portrayal of the Joker was done really, REALLY well, I doubt they could stop it from happening in the future if they ever decide to remake the Batman films again in say 30-50 yrs.

Heaths version of the Joker is great in my opinion but someone else that is also gifted may come up with another version that people will also like and there may be others that people don't go for. That's the beauty of movies, different actors interpretations of characters. I bet there were some people that thought Nicholson was the end all and be all Joker. Aren't you glad they didn't stop the Joker from appearing in movies after Nicholson?

If anything Heaths performance has set a new benchmark for the character which can only mean good things for future actors who may play the role.

Now if they would just remake the Star Wars prequels all over again (with all different actors), proper script (as in a whole new story), everything will be right in the world again.

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[Post edited by Falcon01 on Feb 13, 2009 - CST 9:26 AM]

Quote:
It sounded to me like they were just referring to sequels to Nolan's series of Batman movies (Begins/Dark Knight) and not to the Joker as a character anywhere anytime.

That isn't what I read. In fact, they never said "Nolan's series" whatsoever. Besides, technically, it's not Nolan's property in the first place, as it belongs to DC Comics.

Quote:
If that is the case I 100% agree, having another actor replace Ledger would just be a huge letdown.

Yeah, let's burn down the whole idea of actors having influence to try an achieve a challenge. Great idea! For the love of God, you're an idiot!

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[Post edited by Tim Raynor on Feb 12, 2009 - CST 9:55 PM]

Guys: "a petition to stop the character from being used in any future Batman sequels."

Let's not put words in people's mouths. These guys are not looking to have the Joker character never used again. Just not to appear in any Begins/Dark Knight sequels.

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[Post edited by the_dvd_chef on Feb 12, 2009 - CST 9:53 PM]

Quote:
Let's not put words in people's mouths. These guys are not looking to have the Joker character never used again. Just not to appear in any Begins/Dark Knight sequels.

Again, Chef, that's not technically what was said towards, so called, "Nolan's" films. Some a-hole could come out and do a film of Batman and say it was part of the "new" series without Nolan being involved. It's been done before. No, it doesn't say it's specific to Nolan's films, they don't EVER want to see the Joker played by anyone, ever again!