Found this on the net. Don't know if it's legitimate or not. Even if it's not, it's sort of the approach I expect Nolan and Goyer to take.

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/1194/clearjokerdb2.jpg

Or a Marilyn Manson CD cover...:D

Not legit.

Oh good lord.................................. :freak:

Not legit.

Thankfully :p

Okay, now I'm not so sure.

A number of online sources are calling it official, but I can't seem to get a straight answer from my friends at Warner Bros.

Thing is, I know the ad house that's handling the campaign for the next Batman film, and this is not their work (they don't want anything to do with it, and I can't say I blame them).

Christopher Nolan is the artsy-fartsy type, so anything's possible. This may be something he generated himself... a little cyber-test to get some early buzz going with the fans. If that's the case, it seems to be working.

Hmm, stay tuned. Same Batforum :p

That the page below is from Warner Bros is indisputable
http://ibelieveinharveydent.warnerbros.com/
why shouldn't
http://www.ibelieveinharveydenttoo.com/
be legit?
Especially when whois says the second domain was registered about 5 days before anyone even knew about the first domain.

When I clicked on the second link I got "page not found." How would you interpret that?

I guess the thing that bugs me about the Joker image more than anything else is the bullet hole smile. Gunshot maiming was given as the rationale for Joker's leering grin in Tim Burton's Batman, and I'd be surprised if Nolan and Goyer reprised the same concept. Seems to me they'd want to invent their own backstory for the character without borrowing such a specific bit from the Burton/Hamm version.

Edit:Arggh! Fehgeddaboutit ...it's been taken down.
Edit:the quickening ... it's back up for now

If you crtl-A you will see something.
If you subtract/omit/ignore the letters A and H you will get a message.

On the weekend that domain hosted the same Eckhart poster defaced by two large black circles over the eyes and a big red gash over the mouth and then the poster revealed pixel by pixel underneath, the image Zorro's posted.
IF legit, is everbody's idolatry of Nolan shaken?

IF legit, is everbody's idolatry of Nolan shaken?

Don't know about idolatry but I sort of like it. Doubt I'll be taking my 5 year-old nephew though.

When I clicked on the second link I got "page not found." How would you interpret that?

I guess the thing that bugs me about the Joker image more than anything else is the bullet hole smile. Gunshot maiming was given as the rationale for Joker's leering grin in Tim Burton's Batman, and I'd be surprised if Nolan and Goyer reprised the same concept. Seems to me they'd want to invent their own backstory for the character without borrowing such a specific bit from the Burton/Hamm version.

Could be gunshot maiming. Could be something else. Possibly self-mutilation? If I've got it right, The Dark Knight begins with all the inmates who escaped from Arkham Asylum in Batman Begins recaptured. All but one.

I believe the J-man's slashening is a horrible prison custom to ... er ... facilitate ... er ... Oz-like prison relations.
Dark indeed.

^All of which brings to mind the one element I find lacking in the Nolan/ Goyer Batman: a sense of fun.

The Burton films, whatever their other faults, had an absurd, unhinged sense of humor, whereas Batman Returns was steeped in gritty urban realism almost to a fault. That sort of treatment may ring true given the world we live in, but when it comes to superhero movies I prefer a dash more yin with my yang.

Batman Returns[/i] was steeped in gritty urban realism almost to a fault. That sort of treatment may ring true given the world we live in, but when it comes to superhero movies I prefer a dash more yin with my yang.

You probably meant Batman Begins. Point well taken. The fun element isn't there with the Batman character but I submit that it was there with the Wayne character. Maybe it's Nolan's/Goyer's subtle way of saying that, regardless that it's a man prancing in a bat costume, Batman's mission is serious and a deadly one undertaken by a mortal man who has no inherent superpowers.

Maybe it's also Nolan's/Goyer's way of stressing the schizophrenic nature of the hero: playboy bachelor by day, vigilante by night. Besides, it's easier to have fun with the Wayne character because facial expressions and flippant attitudes can portrayed more effectively outside a rubber suit... something I think that Bale does very well.

You probably meant Batman Begins.

Yup. Sorry `bout that.

I agree with your comments to the extent that what little humor there is in that film derives from Christian Bale's amusing "celebrity rich kid from hell" take on Bruce Wayne. It's something I hope to see more of in the next Bat-flick.

it's easier to have fun with the Wayne character because facial expressions and flippant attitudes can portrayed more effectively outside a rubber suitWhich, in my opinion, is why so many superhero movies with masked characters contrive ways to get the mask off in film after film. See the Spider-Man films as well as Batman movies for examples ...

Qapla'

SSB

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/1194/clearjokerdb2.jpg

Sorry. Not impressed.


But then... I wasn't impressed with the Tumbler either. Until I saw it in the context of the film.

We'll see...

- GJS

you must admit, wb's marketing dept has outdone themselves this time.. this viral campaign is hot

That's creepy. And different.

It ain't Warner. The posted image is fan produced.

It ain't Warner. The posted image is fan produced.

Damned internet!

When in doubt see if it shows up on Ain't It Cool. If it doesn't there's a good chance it's a fake.

Ain't It Cool had it yesterday. Did they decide now it's a fake? That whole set-up to unmask it a pixel per viewer is a lot of trouble to go to if it isn't authentic.

It would seem so.

Until a reliable source goes on the record and confirms the image in question is legitimate I'll continue to assume it isn't.

i jusat went to aint it cool. i dont find anything saying thats a fake. i find things saying others are fake but not the one we are discussing.

New pics.

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.cinematical.com/media/2007/05/jokerimax.jpg


http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.cinematical.com/media/2007/05/dark-knight1x-1.jpg

I guess that ibelieveinharveydenttoo.com image must be fake because it is too sharp ... the character will obviously be blurry in the movie.

Uncle Sam at http://www.whysoserious.com is defaced exactly the same way Aaron Eckhart was defaced
http://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wp-content/images/jokerdefaced.jpg
at http://www.ibelieveinharverdenttoo.com before it became the controversial Ledger image which then became Hahas with a hidden message.

well somethings supposed to happen on whysoserious.com today at 1 pm e.s.t. (or at that location at that time)... so we shall see. the instructions say to be across the street from the san deigo convention center at that time... hmmm isnt the comic con going on about now?
like i said wb's marketing boys are really on top of this one (probably making up for dropping the ball on the latest potter movie)

http://moviesmedia.ign.com/movies/image/article/808/808742/the-dark-knight-20070727113649106.jpg

http://moviesmedia.ign.com/movies/image/article/808/808742/the-dark-knight-20070727113649106.jpg

Ooooh!!! Scaaaary!

http://moviesmedia.ign.com/movies/image/article/808/808742/the-dark-knight-20070727113649106.jpg

I dont want to see this movie now. WHY oh why does hollywood bring out the realistic approach is better routine?


It all started with that darn X-men movie.

I want my COMIC BOOK COSTUMES in film!

Hmmm. Green hair. White skin. Red lips. Purple coat and gloves. Looks like the comic book costume to me.

A "so-what" teaser
http://video.whysoserious.com/TDK_Teaser_HD_Best_L98hufT.mov

Freakin' creepy. I love it.

Looks like white face instead of bleached skin. The neck is regulare colored skin. Hmmmmmm, no chemical bath to make him crazy?

I like it.


Really edgey.

Looks like white face instead of bleached skin. The neck is regulare colored skin. Hmmmmmm, no chemical bath to make him crazy?


The chemical bath "origin" of The Joker is one of those "after the fact" stories that is quite common in comic book history. Director Nolan has said he is basing his Joker on the character's earliest appearances in Batman (starting in 1940) - where The Joker was a straightforward mass murderer with a bizarre appearance modeled after the image of the Joker on playing cards. The chemical bath origin was invented in the comics in 1951, by which time the Joker character had morphed into much more of the harmless "clown" eventually portrayed by Caesar Romero on the Adam West TV series.

Nolan and Goyer's entire approach to the Batman mythos is an attempt to tell these stories as "realistically" as the "fantasy" will bear. I'm not surprised at all that they would jettison the chemical bath origin. I think we can expect a very scary Joker in "The Dark Knight".

Didn't say it would not be creepy. Just making the observation.

Hmmm. Green hair. White skin. Red lips. Purple coat and gloves. Looks like the comic book costume to me.

It is not enough though. Nicholsons makeup was more comic accurate then this one.

It is not enough though. Nicholsons makeup was more comic accurate then this one.

That's the point though. They do not want this looking like a "comic book". They are striving for plausibility within constraints of the characterization. What is more believable?

A: A guy falls into a vat of toxic chemicals, which amazingly changes his physical appearance to that of the Joker on a deck of cards.

B: A psychopathic killer adopts the guise of the Joker by covering his face with make-up to look like the one on the deck of cards.

Batman is a hero without any super powers. He relies on his martial arts training and borrowed equipment to aid him in his fight against criminals.

I much prefer the interpretation of the vigilante straddling the line between believable and fantastic. I can see how a person can use technology that was developed for military use and mothballed rather than some guy who somehow managed to get a car, plane or whatnot built with a bat design/motif without anybody who was involved in the construction putting 2 and 2 together.

It is not enough though. Nicholsons makeup was more comic accurate then this one.

Yes it was. So was Caesar Romero's. I guess "Hollywood" gets it "right" about 66% of the time. Of course, The Scarecrow didn't have straw "hair" sticking out of a big floppy hat in "Batman Begins" so I hope you're not too terribly surprised this time out.

http://www.moviepoopshoot.com/comics101/images/2004/jan14/scarecrow2.jpg

If they were going for plausibility, they should have skipped the elevated trains 200 feet above the street, and the tumbler driving over rooftops. I'm just sayin'. ;)

These characters have been around for many decades. Mostly ALWAYS drawn the same way. Fans LOVE them.


I would MUCH rather have the comic book come to life than the realistic approach ANY day of the week.

Havent you had enough of the realistic approach yet? Every movie has been tainted by it. EVERY comic book movie. How about giving ONE back for us. The comic accurate fans.

These characters have been around for many decades. Mostly ALWAYS drawn the same way. Fans LOVE them.


I would MUCH rather have the comic book come to life than the realistic approach ANY day of the week.

Havent you had enough of the realistic approach yet? Every movie has been tainted by it. EVERY comic book movie. How about giving ONE back for us. The comic accurate fans.
well i think theres a balance that has to be struck there.... one of the worst things about the previous cycle of batman films was how "comic book" they became towards the end. burton tried to find a balance, be he was hindered by being tim burton, whos imagination is just too stylized to be believable.

look at the spider-man films. one one hand, raimi tried to pretty much give us the spider-man comic done live action. spider-man wasnt broke, so he didnt "fix" it. on the other hand, i never hear a gripe about the green goblins armor, which was done as a concession to "realism". do i believe that the could possible be chemicals that could bleach someones skin and turn his hair green at the same time?... well lets say that if the comic never existed and i read a news story, i wouldnt immediately relegate it to the weekly world news. and i figure if crane returns, he's going to look a like the scarecrow of the comics.

if nolan and goyer are "going back to the origins" and ignoring any retrofitted mythology, then batman should have a plain old car, as opposed to any sort of batmobile, including the tumbler.

here's the deal (for me anyway): the joker is the most popular and famous supervillian of them all. he even had his own title for a while. his own mythology shouldnt be ignored, and part of that is how he came to be as he is. i dont know if the film will address that or not, or if so how. but thats my opinion. nolan and goyer certainly have respect for the characters and the mythology, and their opinion counts a heck of a lot more than mine does.

I would MUCH rather have the comic book come to life than the realistic approach ANY day of the week.

Havent you had enough of the realistic approach yet? Every movie has been tainted by it. EVERY comic book movie. How about giving ONE back for us. The comic accurate fans.

I really don't quite understand how you can do a live action film that is not "tainted by realism". I mean, that's sort of the whole point of doing a live action movie - as opposed to a cartoon. Now, there are varying degrees of that - "Batman Begins" is a heckuva lot more "tainted by realism" than "Batman & Robin" for instance. But I really don't know what you're proposing here - on a purely technical level - that couldn't be done more effectively in a cartoon.

I'll just say that THE DARK KNIGHT has a lot more going for it than against it.

Yeah, I see these still photos and have to wonder just how far from the original source material they are going to take this for the sake of 'realism'.

HOWEVER.... everything that I've seen and heard thus far ( i.e. on Youtube, fansites, etc.. ) suggests that this film will be just as on - target as BATMAN BEGINS was ( and I think most of us had a few reservations about that film until we saw the final product )!

So, I'm going to sit back and refrain from throwing stones until I've seen the film in theaters.

- GJS

So, I'm going to sit back and refrain from throwing stones until I've seen the film in theaters.

Huh? Wha? WHAT?? How dare you, Zorro and razorwyre take a calm, rational and balanced approach to this movie? I think all three of you should take classes on forming an opinion without the facts before you.

[But I really don't know what you're proposing here - on a purely technical level - that couldn't be done more effectively in a cartoon.*


Darn Mexican computers. Still havent figured them out....

Anyway, the most comic accurate thing I have seen would be the fan made films Grayson and Batman I believe it was called Deadend....Both Jokers looked amazing. Both Batmen looked amazing and so comic accurate. Not body armor suits like in the movies that were just mentioned.