Why The Dark Knight's Joker is The Greatest CBM Antagonist of all Time

(Spoilers for The Dark Knight Below)

To start with - I recently rewatched 2008's The Dark Knight, after putting it off for a couple of years and recalling it's nothing but fine. I rewatched it primarily because of all the hype surrounding TDK around the Vine, and decided... well, I might find enjoyment in the film this time around. So I saw it, and it's awesome - a 9/10. Yes - I don't enjoy it on the same level that many around the internet do. Because it's because of a lack of personal enjoyment and that Nolan and the rest of the writers grounded Batman to a degree that removes a good amount of the appeal to Batman (I'm saying that because Night of Owls is friggin awesome), but bias aside - it's a genuinely wonderful film. So - I decided I'd write an editorial concerning a specific aspect of TDK... my all time favourite comic book comic antagonist... the Joker.

I'm pretty sure a bulk of you people are going to agree with me - nonetheless, if you don't, I'd like to convey several of my points regarding why I think The Joker is the greatest CBM adversary of all time. Well, thanks for clicking, hope you enjoy and don't forget to leave your comments below...

Well, let's get the obvious out of the way - Heath Ledger's performance is a mere masterpiece, Rest in Peace, Heath Ledger, you were brilliant as the Joker... as you may know, Heath Ledger is the only Comic Book Movie actor to reach Oscar status, and although I think other's too are worthy... you get the point - Heath Ledger owned the role of the joker - menacing, haunting, memorable, twisted... he defiantly boosted the role to greater heights.

Perhaps though, there's other reasons I think The Joker is the greatest adversary in CBM history. For all time, there isn't many comic book movies you'll find in which the hero will truly challenge the hero - The Joker posed a threat. He wasn't an obstacle - he was a threat, straight and simple. In Guardians of The Galaxy (which I think is a great film), I was never made aware that Ronan ever was a true threat... in Spider-Man 2, Doc Ock (one of my favourite CBM villains of all time) wasn't a threat either... and in ASM2 - Electro wasn't a threat, simply filler, Rhino wasn't either... The Goblin wasn't at the heart of the story so there wasn't a threat towards Peter Parker till the end of the film... and I like every single film I listed above.

What I'm conveying is - The Joker is the only villain to truly pose a threat to the titular hero. He messed around with Batman on every single angle - he isn't filler, he was placed at the core of the narrative - striking external conflict towards Bruce Wayne... Rachel lost her life because of the Joker... Two-Face went spiral because of The Joker... Batman almost killed because of the Joker... Batman doubted himself because of The Joker... this never happens in any Comic Book Movie. Ever. Certainly nowhere near The Joker for that matter.

The Joker damaged Gotham itself - not merely The Caped Crusader. He cost chaos... killed innocent people... this is, above all, a Comic Book film where, finally, the hero is challenged to some great extent.

The film avoids laying down a concrete backstory and origin of the Joker... yet... he understand the character perfectly and he's explored brilliantly - Joker is, to some extent, the main character of The Dark Knight. His motivations unfold throughout the narrative, and throughout every single scene, the character is explored and delved into. The Dark Knight opens up with... The Joker. Not Batman, not Alfred for that matter, not Two-Face... but the Joker - he's the soul of the narrative.

Without a doubt - The Dark Knight's Joker can exist in the real world - his motivation is well constructed. There's men in the world that want to watch the world burn - it happens. I initially thought of this motivation silly and dumb, although it's one thing to lay down this motivation, and another thing to do it right. He's a madman, it's complex, and it's disturbing - everything an antagonist could be.

There isn't a concrete reason why he wants to watch the world burn, although he wants to watch the world burn anyway. There isn't any reason he thinks Batman is too much fun, although he thinks Batman is too much fun anyway. He's like a dog chasing cars, and by extension, he wouldn't know what to do if he caught one.

Well - that's it, nothing much to add here, hope you enjoyed the quick read, comments would be appreciated and don't forget to follow the user account for more Editorials! Hope you enjoyed.

Thanks,

- TAS

I totally agree with this. Health Ledger's Joker has the best performance in any CBM movie IMO and one of my favourite movie performances ever and one of the best Joker portrayals in any medium. He's exactly what Joker should be IMO.

Glad you agree ^^

Yeah - he conveyed every critical aspect - everything the Joker should be, yes. It's also a great example that creative change from the comic books isn't necessarily a bad thing.

- TAS

Got to say while I did like Ledgers Joker my top is Tom Hiddleston's Loki. He's the quintessential comic book movie villain imo.

@strider92 Aww... well, to each his own - fair enough, then :P

- TAS

I could not agree more. In fact, I think I'm going to have to watch The Dark Knight again. It's been far too long since I've seen it. I've wantched dozens of times and Ledger's performance never looses it's punch.

Go ahead and rewatch it - it's seriously great. Joker's the only reason I rewatched it though, primarily...

Also - thanks for the follow :P

- TAS

i agree with everything said.

Cool... thanks, I guess.

- TAS

I preferred Loki, Ra's al Ghul, Tom Hardy's Bane, Jack Nicholson's Joker, & both Magnetos more than Ledger's Joker, so I disagree.

Good blog though. Very well-written.

Well done.

Fair enough. And Aww... thanks! XD.

- TAS

Thanks, man!

- TAS

Great blog, everything you said is valid. Now everyone will have their own favorite villain, but as far as overall performance and impact I agree that Heath's Joker is number one.

My personal favorite, was Sabretooth from Wolverine's origin movie. The tempest of blind ferocity just under a thin veneer of an arrogant calmness, was very well done. Add to the special effects of his physical speed and climbing ability adds greatly to the movie.

Thanks - thanks a lot, it's appreciated.

And I'm glad you're able to express your liking for Wolverine: Origins. I actually enjoyed the film and liked Sabretooth too. Guilty pleasure, I know.

- TAS

Heath ledger, certainly a very big loss.

It's been three or four years since I've seen TDK, but this post makes me want to see it again.

Hopefully I'll be able to enjoy it even though I now know how much of douchebag the writer is.

Indeed.

- TAS

Aww... well, then watch it again :D I'm glad I could influence you into wanting to rewatch the film.

- TAS

The thing people fail to understand about The Joker, is he is right.

He isnt insane, because an insane human doesnt see reality and doesnt have his own code.

People does horrible things all the time, justify this with its legal or the fact is ok by "society rules", the truth is they dont have a code to live with.

Wall Street and the Bankers can destroy a society and kill thousand of people, but its totally ok, there is a way society justify this.

The fashion industry pretty much uses slaves, so does toy companies and others, again society justify this.

There are wars for oil, people does nothing, just pretends they care, but at the end they dont care enough to do something.

Not only that, but you can see several people on tv talking about success and its obvious they are Psychopaths or Sociopaths, our world believes that is a mark of excellence.

The average people are so consumed by fear of rejection and ostracism, that they do not speak out or try to change the system. The joker has no such fears and exposes society for the cruel joke that it is.

At the end, people didnt blew up each other because they believe in something.

When Harvey Dent was show as who he actually was.

Gotham did nothing to stop Bane.

Only Gordon and the people that had a real code try to stop this.

The rest again did nothing.

He has a real point.

This is why he is a better villain that Loki, dont get me wrong i love Tom Hiddleston, but he is the reason Loki is great, not the movies or the writing.

Tom Hiddleston deserves better, but Marvel barely cares about their villains.

I agree with this.

This.

Not only that.

Ledger's performance as Joker is one of the greatest performances in cinematic history.

Guess I'm in a minority here. While he certainly was great and I agree the movie is 9/10 I don't think he deserved an Academy Award and don't think he would've won it if he hadn't died.

However the reason Joker was so great was because of how much screen time he was given, and I do think that is something Marvel should copy.

He would have still won had he not died.

Nobody in his category surpassed the quality of his role. Worse performances have won Academy Awards in recent years (e.g. Jennifer Lawrence).

His death was related to the movie's success financially perhaps; but the death card has never held up to as why he won the Oscar.

Absolutely correct on all aspects.

Very Well written.

Jmarshmallow

DAMN RIGHT! When will they finally nominate Joker for "character of the month" so I can vote for him?

For single movie performance, I agree. No explanation is really needed.

For multiple movies, Magneto easily wins for me.

@frozen: There have certainly been worse winners, I don't remember saying otherwise, but I'm certainly not alone (maybe on this site perhaps) in my thoughts on that. It's not the first time the Academy has done something like that either.

@granitesoldier: You may not be alone in your thinking but neither am I. That aside; I do not think his death was the reason he won. The other actors in his category were not nearly as good for their respective performances. Many actors have died and not had an Oscar given to them for their last performance; besides, The Dark Knight wasn't even Ledger's last film.

Fassbenders Magneto >>>>>

Ian McKellen's Magneto >>> Fassbender.

@frozen: you have terrible opinions.

I have brilliant opinions.

Ledger Joker, either Magneto, Ra's Al Ghul, Bane, and Doctor Octopus are the best cbm villains.

Loki is one of the worst.

Ledger's Joker was great, amd i find it as one of the best CBM performances of all time ( although i think that there's alot of hype around that because, well...Ledger died after the role ).

But there has beat a couple of other great performances in other CBMs ( all of them were in Batman franchise though :D ).

Danny DeVito's Penguin, Jack Nicholson's Joker they played the role pretty well too. I would say these two performances can fight for the first place among other CBM vilains...

@frozen: i agree that McKellen's Magneto was better than Fassbender's.

That year Sean Penn Milk over Mickey Rourke The Wrestler.

Funny how people forget this happened that year.

Not only that but Penn didnt even deserve the nomination.

Also many actor has died and still Ledger was the second Oscar winner that passed away before winning the Oscar.

It was the second.

Also many people point Ledger was going to lose, since The Oscars are about politics and things like that.

Beside the fact the academy dont respect some genres and are a bunch of aholes.

@deathpoolthet1000: That I 100% agree with: the Academy does ignore and discredit certain genres. The fact that Pacific Rim wasn't even nominated for any of the technical awards is proof. They prefer artsier sh*t by and large.

Isn't this the one thing comic book fans tend to agree on? That Ledger was the best Joker, the best comic book villain and gave one of the best performances in a comic book movie ever?

@frozen: No, no. I have brilliant opinions about your terrible opinions.

@deathpoolthet1000: . . . Women..

Heath Joker is the greatest comic book villain on screen...ever.

Agreed. He was better than batman even.

Certainly a strong candidate for such a title...though, much like other users, I would personally vote for McKellen's Magneto.

Great blog. I agree with everything (Even though I liked Loki and Fassbender's Magneto better)

Great blog but Zod made the President kneel before him. Your argument is invalid.

Magneto for me

Thanks!

- TAS

Um... thanks... sure :P

- TAS

@godzilla44 said:

Heh, heh - thanks!

And thanks for the follow.

- TAS