Heath Ledger Hates Comic Book Movies
Filed under: Action, Casting, Celebrities and Controversy, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
Only three days, and 72 scant hours after I declared my faith in Heath Ledger -- went out on a, well, ledge, if you will, and said he would "own" the role of the Joker -- the guy turned around and stabbed a (metaphoric) dagger into my chest. In a recent interview with Dark Horizons, Ledger felt the need to pronounce his utter disdain for all things comic book. Yes, after taking a beating in geek circles everywhere for being cast as the Joker, Ledger decided to help his own cause by declaring: "I actually hate comic book movies, like f--ing hate them, they just bore me s--tless and they're just dumb. But I thought what Chris Nolan did with Batman was actually really good." Way to win over those fans, Heath. Maybe for an encore you can go dance on Jack Kirby's grave.Look, Ledger, you can try all you want to pretend comic book movies are beneath a man such as yourself, but you aren't fooling me -- I saw you in Brothers Grimm.* I'm not going to recant on my decision; I still expect Ledger to be a fantastic Joker. And the guy is entitled to his opinions -- after all, industry journalists such as yours truly spend half our time running down actors, so turn about is certainly fair play. Nonetheless, I question the marketing savvy of insulting a huge portion of your audience when you're already facing an uphill battle to impress them.
Geeks and Heath Ledger; a beautiful relationship is born.
*Not a comic book movie, per se, but the point is clearly made.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-13-2006 @ 11:31AM
bgdc said...
I expect he will suck...just as he has in everything. Including the highly overrated Brokeback Boredom.
FWIW, I agree with his take on comic books. they do suck. I've been to comic-con in san diego 10 time, read Alan Moore's stuff, read Frank Miller's stuff and still I can't shake the feeling/view comics are just f^cking boring crap. Call me old fashioned but if I'm reading, I'll take my stories/dialogue without pictures and balloons.
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9-13-2006 @ 11:51AM
OoglyGoogly said...
I said before and I'll say it again, casting Ledger as the Joker was a mistake. There are so MANY other more gifted and competent actors out there to play the role. This dope will bring no heart to the part - especially after these comments. He's just in it for the big paycheck. He SUCKED in Brokeback, he sucked in Brothers Grimm and he'll suck in this role too. There goes the franchise. Again!
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9-13-2006 @ 12:14PM
MosquitoControl said...
He's been quite good in a few movies and will probably do insane with an edge better than most. Plus, as others have mentioned in the past, since we don't know what to expect we'll be seeing the Joker, instead of Jack Nicholson in makeup. Or a gifted, more talented actor in makeup. Since he's never had a role like this...
Saying he won't bring heart to it is a bit unfair, too. He wouldn't do this film otherwise, nor would he have been asked to. He didn't say he hated the last Batman, nor did he say he hated the last Batman movie, he just said he hates comic book movies.
And, for those of you playing at home, so did everyone else. They died in the 80s and 90s. Blade was the one to bring them back, and few acknowledged it was a comic book movie. It's really only been the last 5 or 6 years that comic book movies have had any respect. Before that everyone just thought of crap like most of the Batman movies, Captain America, Dolph Lundgren's Punisher...
Comic book movies were considered the bottom of the barrel.
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9-13-2006 @ 1:17PM
Wonderboy said...
Is he getting into the role by practicing "insane" rants? That's the best explanation I can come up with... cause who in their right mind actually hates comic book movies? Yep, I've made up my mind, he's practicing for the Joker role.
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9-13-2006 @ 1:22PM
Cath said...
If you have little regard for the material, that will come out in your performance. This was part of Halle Berry's problem. Frankly, his contempt for things too deep for his reading level aside, I haven't been all too impressed with Ledger's other performances. Doubtless he will be standing in Tommy Lee Jones' shadow the whole time. Not an enviable position for an actor in the first place, but he's not making it any easier for himself.
And my hat's off to Chris Nolan but he wouldn't have made such a good film without great source material.
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9-13-2006 @ 2:20PM
Patrick said...
Let's not overreact here. First of all, Ledger did not say anything negative about comic books. Even as a comics reader, I have to agree that most comic-to-film translations have sucked, with a few rare exceptions (Batman Begins, Hellboy, Sin City, etc.).
Gary Oldman also stated that he'd never really bothered to read much about his character and as far as I'm concerned he was an excellent Jim Gordon.
Besides... comics and movies are two very different things. When it comes to the movies, I'd rather see a great actor who doesn't care about comics than a fanboy who couldn't act his way out of a wet paper bag.
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9-13-2006 @ 2:33PM
Todd Patterson said...
Heath Ledge is an idiot. Does anyone recall the Chick Flick movies he's been in? This guy is a joke. How about Knights Tale? Like that was so realistic. He ought to keep his mouth shut and make his money.
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9-13-2006 @ 5:11PM
The Jeremy said...
paging Christopher Eccleston...
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9-13-2006 @ 7:35PM
Geoff said...
Hmm.
He couldn't have just... y'know... lied?
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9-14-2006 @ 1:44PM
Linda said...
I have never answered one of these blogs but this one upset me. I am not a young person but still am a Heath Ledger fan. All of his movies were not good but he was a superb actor in all of them. I think he will be good in anything he does. Everyone has a right to their klikes and dislikes but that does not mean he does not have the right to do this movie. As far as Knight's Tale goes if you would have looked at the special features you would have understood why it was filmed the way it was. Do some research before you comment. Sounds like a bit of jelousy to me. He is a superb actor.
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9-14-2006 @ 8:21PM
bcc123 said...
I agree with him, and it's refreshingly honest to hear him say so. He wants to do it because he respected the first movie and wants to challenge himself. That's the kind of effort that takes a film from being a half-assed genre flick to a really good movie that folks other than the fanboys will see.
He's also said he never watched westerns, and his portrayal in Brokeback Mountain of a real, textured character, rather than a cowboy caricature, made it one of my favorite movies of last year.
P.S. Is there any genre he likes?
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9-15-2006 @ 3:08AM
dafnap said...
Dude, Patrick is right -most comic book movies DO suck -and this coming from a comic con attending, comic store working, 30 titles on her pull list, comic fangirl. My minority opinion would be that "Batman Begins" wasn't even that good -script was weak, the first half hour was Bruce picking flowers. The best part of Batman Begins was the pitch-perfect casting (not including, of course, the shoe-horned in love interest. WB - Batman ain't Spider-man, you don't have to give him a "Mary Jane".)
He's not saying comic BOOKS, he's saying MOVIES. If you want to continue misinterpreting what he said just so you can make yourself feel better for not liking "That Brokeback Mountain Dude", that's fine, but at least be a little more honest about it.
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