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Heath Ledger's Joker: After Heath's Death, What Will Be Different In Regards to The Dark Knight

I came across an interesting blog post and found myself digging through the memory banks of my pop culture riddled mind for memories of comic book movie marketing past. I found myself responding in length on the post's link on ShowHype, but thought I could be a little more verbose (oh yay!) here.

The question lies in this poster and whether or not the poster is banking on Ledger's death:

You know, seriously, it's a valid question. And normally, I would find such marketing suspect.

If we weren't talking about The Joker, that is.

Before Heath's death, I expected a big marketing push surrounding The Joker. He is the big man on campus when it comes to the Batman rogue gallery. Hell, he's the granddaddy of all comic book villains.

But honestly, this really isn't out of the norm for comic book film derivatives and the villains that star in them. Sure, you have your exceptions. Like Batman Begins for instance.

Neither The Scarecrow nor Ra's Al Ghul were big parts of the Batman Begins' marketing push. But to me, that was perfectly understandable. Both characters were familiar to those familiar with the Batman comic or maybe even just Batman: The Animated Series, but to the average film goer? Nah. Let's not kid ourselves. For most people who have only watched the films, The Scarecrow is that guy in The Wizard of OZ. And a friendly fellow he was, too.

Then there's the Joker. As far as I'm concerned, he was the *first* supervillain. Lex Luthor is just a mobster. The Joker is a true supervillain worthy of his own marketing push.

First of all, he was truly one of Batman's first enemies. Wikipedia spells it out pretty well in their Joker page:

The Joker is a fictional character and supervillain that appears in the comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson, the Joker is the archenemy of the superhero Batman and first appeared in Batman #1 (Spring 1940).

The Wikipedia article also notes that The Joker was voted by Wizard Magazine as being the greatest villain of all time and that Nicholson's Joker was ranked #45 in AFI's Top 50 Film Villains of All Time.

Seriously, when we're talking comic books, The Joker is a big deal. Definitely bigger as far as popularity and scope than Ironman and he has his own movie (Note: Ironman fans, don't get mad at me - I'm not suggesting that he's a better character - just that his familiarity with the masses is more pronounced).

Ledger's Joker was shroud in secrecy with Warner Brothers attempting their best to keep the Joker's face hidden until the first real trailer hit the screen. If you've followed this mess since the beginning, you'll know that they were only half successful due to those fan pictures someone snapped of Ledger heading to his trailer in make-up.

Then there were the mock-ups and even that one photo that everyone thought was real and then turned out to be a hoax. Oy.

Bottom line is: Joker's a big deal around the woods of Pop Culture Central. And he's a big deal for Batman.

But even with The Joker aside, it's not anything new for film studios to make a big deal of a supervillain in a comic book film.

Here's just a few examples.

Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Trailer is Online!!!

With Valentine's, I had forgot all about this. But it's online.

If it is pulled by Paramount, I'll try to repost ASAP.

Spielberg Steps Down From 2008 Olympic Committee Post

You know, I have always respected Spielberg. Both as a director and as a human being, but nothing he has done - even his directing my favorite film ever (ehm, Raiders) - has inspired this much respect from me.

As you're probably aware, Steven Spielberg pulled his support of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing after no real effort by the Chinese government to take action over the atrocities in Darfur.

This move by Spielberg is a crucial one and really puts the heat and the focus on the Chinese government and their involvement in Sudan.

Of course, you can't mention this without mentioning Mia Farrow, who has been an outspoken voice and a tour de force in bringing this to the attention of the American public.

I heart Steven and Mia.

Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Trailer to Premiere on Entertainment Tonight on 2/14

According to a post on the celebrity gossip blog, OhNoTheyDidnt, we may finally be getting that Indiana Jones trailer we've all been waiting for.

Cinematical says that we can expect the trailer to hit theaters this day as well, but no word on what film the trailer will be attached to.

Admittedly, I've been "dreaming" about what the teaser trailer would look like. I don't want a lot in the teaser. Yeah, it's true. I want it to be more iconic and less showy.

Hopefully, soon, we'll know what Spielberg has in mind for the trailer. Personally, I would have liked to have seen a trailer this Christmas. They're really pushing it if you ask me.

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Looking for Indiana Jones Merchandise?

New Prince Caspian - The Chronicles of Narnia Photos

Cinema Blend has just posted a set of new Prince Caspian photos from Disney.

I, for one, enjoyed Disney's The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. I had a few issues with it, but nothing major. I know a lot of people felt that the religious overtones were "dumbed down." I suspect that you'd have to be highly religious to feel this way because I felt they were pretty much front and center.

I have a feeling this Ben Barnes is going to have a good shot at being the next "hunk" for the younger set. What do you think?

Looking for Narnia Merchandise and Collectibles?

X-Files 2 Movie Set Photos - Spoilers!

So, Jo-Blo has posted some set photos that may give us some clues as to what to expect from the upcoming X-Files 2 movie. Kinda.

Personally, I'm just hoping that they pretend that the last, say, four seasons of X-Files did NOT happen. I could be happy with that alone. In fact, I would even agree for a whole Dallas style twist where it was just one of Mulder's messed-up dreams.

Yes. I know it smacks of desperation, but did you SEE those last four seasons?

Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on Vanity Fair

So, in the event you haven't seen it, Indy and his new pal Shia are on the cover of the latest edition of Vanity Fair. While I'm certain that everyone has probably seen the cover and, most likely, read the article, I can't go without adding a bit of commentary. Brace thyselves.

And since portions of this might be considered a little spoilerific, I'm going to cut. So, if you go past this point and see something you didn't want to see, don't blame me. I warned you.

Cloverfield Trailers, Photos, Updates, Reviews and More.

It has begun!

The first reviews are trickling in. One from Harry Knowles and another from Jeff Wells. There's also apparently a smallish Lady Liberty missing its head that is sitting in front of Paramount Studios.

I'm trying to keep up with all the information as it comes in and am updating my Cloverfield Squidoo lens since it's a bit easier to manipulate for updates. All links to reviews, trailers and photos are there.

Deborah Kerr is Dead at Age 86

All the news outlets are reporting that actress, Deborah Kerr, has died after suffering a long bout with Parkinson's Disease.

For many, I'm sure that "The King and I" is the first movie that pops into mind when the name "Deborah Kerr" is mention. For me, for some odd reason, the first thing that pops into mind is "An Affair to Remember," though whether this is due to "Sleepless in Seattle" or the fact that I love Cary Grant, I'm not sure. Though, I'm sure many probably remember that kiss from "From Here To Eternity" just as well as anything.

She was beautiful in a way that was both classic and unconventional (trust me - I know it's contradictory) as so many stars of her time were.

Now, we've just got to wait for someone to start the whole "happens in threes" bit. Which I've always found to be somewhat ridiculous because you can always make that ridiculous rule work when you want to.

Just as well, RIP Ms. Kerr.

Star Wars TV Series - George Lucas Gets His Steven Bochco On

And you thought this Star Wars TV Series wasn't going to happen. Maybe you're right. But according to Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider blog, George Lucas will be leaving the bunker in order to meet with the writers that have been selected to pen the series. Apparently, these mysterious writers are all "freelancers" and George seems to also be interested in introducing a little international flavah by hiring writers from outside the U.S. Novel!

Of course, this is all fine and dandy and really interesting, but there's still no specifics as to what the series will actually be about. Wookies in love? Skywalker family feud? That little cantina on Tatooine where the aliens sometimes wanted to go because everybody knew their name even if they sometimes lost a hand?

Fans desperately want to believe that the series will concern the happenings between Episode 3 and 4. Question is: what exactly would that entail? The Young Han Solo Chronicles. No, please. A tween drama about a fiesty Alderaanian princess and her buddies who have slumber parties and fix each other's hair up in buns while talking about the cute boy from Tatooine who would later wind up to be a sibling? Stop. (But I can't! My fingers keep typing!) Maybe it's the tale of Chewy before Han and how he and a fellow Wookie worked at a nearby factory producing that funny blue milk stuff. Everyday, they'd skip to work and sing a song about the factory where they worked. Watch as Chewy places his sash across one of the bottles and laughs as it makes its way down the factory line. Sigh. Maybe they could call in Ty Pennington and do an Extreme Home Makeover on the Lars Family homestead.

Meh.