Last night we took the crew to see Iron Man. You can read James's and Scott's reviews of the film, but I'll just add that this movie ROCKS, and in case you're a parent debating whether to bring your kids to see it, I felt that what violence is in the film is mostly cartoonish, Indiana Jones-level stuff, so if your kids can handle those films, they'll be fine. All of my kids were engaged in the film from start to finish, and there was nothing in it that scared them as much and that damn sea lion in Happy Feet.

But I digress. Before the film, of course, they had the usual array of trailers (Speed Racer, Indy 4, Prince Caspian), and one of them was for The Dark Knight. Now, I've generally been avoiding seeing or reading too much about The Dark Knight, so this was the first time I'd seen the trailer. And my reaction to it was ... I don't know if I want to see this film. Much as I love Christian Bale and Aaron Eckhart, I just found the scenes of Heath Ledger as the Joker oddly painful to watch.

The Joker's latest campaign is currently overloading his server, but here's what's happened so far.

Over on Clown Travel Agency, a list of addresses was posted for bowling alleys across the country. Whoever got there first received a bowling bag with a ball engraved with a number, and the usual Joker swag of a cellphone and a Joker card.
(Empire has some photos of the swag up and is one of the few sites not being completely overloaded.) Those who called the number were told "We know who you are" and that was that. As each bag was picked up, CTA received another stamp.

Now CTA is defunct, and forwards you to Acme Security Systems, where you are asked to enter your e-mail address and phone number for voice verification. For most (including Erik Davis and myself), the server wouldn't load. One person I know got through, and the next task is apparently to disable Acme's security system. The password is "Needle" for what it's worth -- I assume this is what you're supposed to voice verify.

New updates after the jump ...

The New York Post's Joe Neumaier claims that Jack Nicholson told London reporters that he "warned" Heath Ledger: but about what, exactly? Burning the candle at both ends? Playing a gay cowboy in a homophobic country? "Well, I warned him," is the full and exact quote. Still, under the caption of Nicholson in full purple regalia in the Post, it claims Nicholson "warned Ledger about the part [of The Joker]." Neumaier notes other reports that Ledger had slept two hours a night during the filming of The Dark Knight, and that Ledger had told the press "prescription drugs didn't help."

This might just be a ghoulish attempt to capitalize on Ledger's death by linking him to a celebrated screen and comic book villain, so I thought I'd check Burton on Burton (edited by Mark Salisbury) to see if Tim Burton recalled Nicholson going through similar angst when making the 1989 Batman, giving him grounds for worrying about the stress on another actor playing the role. Not quite. On Nicholson, Burton commented, "He was very cool...he was very calming and helpful and would just say, `Get what you need, get what you want, and just keep going.'" (Thanks to Moviefone for this tipoff.)

Now that the The Dark Knight trailer has been making the rounds for a while, with Heath Ledger's Joker wowing everyone from fans to filmmakers, it's time for Mark Hamill to throw his opinions into the ring. If you're not a big animated series fan, this might seem weird -- what does Luke Skywalker have to do with the Joker? Well, Hamill has been the voice behind the character for years now -- most notably on Batman: The Animated Series. (Hear him in action here.) So, MTV recently caught up with the quirky Clown Prince, and he had some nice things to say about the most recent Joker incarnation.

"For all those fans that dreamed of an adult approach to the material, Batman Begins got nearly everything right. I have no doubt this one will be just as good or better." Unfortunately, there's no word on what he thinks the first got wrong, but he does say of Christopher Nolan's changes to the character: "The balls-out debauched psycho approach seems like a great way of reinventing everyone's favorite scary (and scar-y) clown." Ah, punning goodness!

So Hamill can't wait to see Ledger in action. Can you? Do you like the eerie way that Nolan has taken the character, and that Ledger is playing him, or are you wishing that Hamill got to make his Joker large and live-action? Or that you'd get more Jack Nicholson? Or maybe someone else?

I apologize for tricking you with that headline. You probably even skipped all this text and headed directly for the video, only to be somewhat disappointed that this is in fact not actually a new trailer for The Dark Knight. While Christopher Nolan's latest installment is one of the movies to see in 2008 (aka 2000-Great, according to my friends), the video below is best described as one of the worst films of 1966. Of course, we all love it, don't we? For some reason, Fark.com's hosting of the video claims Leslie H. Martinson's kitchy Batman is even worse than the two Schumacher installments, but really what would you rather watch? If you didn't say this big-screen spin-off of the Batman TV series, then you clearly don't know how to have fun.

Anyway, this isn't the best-edited piece of parody to grace YouTube, but there are a lot of well-synced clips and that shot of the businessman getting zapped is delightfully awful. I personally love Cesar Romero as the Joker and can't get enough. I also really like what was done with the "little fight in you" section of the Dark Knight trailer: The Joker fights Bruce Wayne, who suddenly becomes Batman for the "then you'll love me" line. Sure, it's not as cute as Maggie Gyllenhaal kicking her brother's boyfriend in the nuts, but it's pretty funny. Anyway, you can check out the real Dark Knight trailer -- though you already have, unless you don't know what's good for you -- over here.

I'm such a bastard sometimes, because I know exactly what you're thinking: "Seven minutes of The Dark Knight! Online! And I can watch it now!" Unfortunately, no, but the good news is you'll be able to watch it very soon. According to a report over on Collider (via a Portuguese website who just attended a Dark Knight set visit in London), six or seven minutes of next summer's Batman follow-up will screen before the IMAX version of I Am Legend. This won't be an extended trailer of sorts; from what we know, this will be an entire scene -- they're calling it a prologue about the Joker. That's all we have to go on now, but if you planned on seeing I Am Legend when it hits theaters on December 14, you might as well skip over to the local IMAX and check it out there. No word on whether a new Dark Knight trailer will come attached to Legend in conventional theaters, but I've heard there may indeed be something.

We already know Christopher Nolan shot a certain amount of scenes in IMAX, one of which was a bank heist scene, but this sounds like it might be different. Additionally, and also coming from the same set visit, Collider reports that Gotham City will go through a "white night," though there's no explanation as to what that is. They say "Two Faces will be in the film" -- not sure if that was a typo, meant to read 'Two Face,' but it appears that way. And, also, Batman will be traveling outside Gotham City for the first time to Hong Kong (which we already knew). I haven't been to an IMAX film in a long time (too friggin' big for this old man), but I may just have to suck it up and catch I Am Legend for the Batman footage. How about you? Would you rather wait until the film comes out, or are you eager to soak up any and all things Batman-related right now? The Dark Knight hits theaters on July 18.

Just when you thought you had seen the last of casting announcements for Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, Batman-on-Film (The Dark Knight fan site) has reported that William Fichtner has officially joined the cast. Fresh off Will Ferrell's Blades of Glory, Fichtner is best known as a mainstay in the Bruckheimer universe -- he played the antsy astronaut who squares off against Bruce Willis in Armageddon, and had roles in Pearl Harbor and Black Hawk Down as well. His face might also ring a bell as the slightly psychotic government agent on Fox's Prison Break. So far there aren't many details about his role in The Dark Knight; other than the vague title of "bank manager," which may or may not even be accurate, considering the unofficial nature of the source. If that is his role, it's not exactly the most dynamic sounding part, but you never know.

The film is currently shooting in Chicago, and Erik gave us the heads up for the first set photographs online (most of the photos were related to an opening action sequence in a bank, so that is probably where Fichtner's character comes in) and just today we got our first, if somewhat blurry look at Heath Ledger as The Joker. There hasn't exactly been a shortage of fan scrutiny over every casting choice in the film, and while it seems like some of the choices have been met with universal approval, there has been plenty of debate on other roles, proving yet again that you can't please all of the Batman fans all of the time. Considering that Fichtner's role, if it is what it is, seems pretty "controversy-free," I doubt there is going to be that kind of attention this time around.

Let's hop into the WABAC machine today for a quick jaunt into the not-so-distant past. Sherman will kindly set the dial for September 13, 2006, when your faithful geek beat writer told you about Heath Ledger's passionate feelings for comic book movies. I'll quote him for you -- well, mostly quote him. A word or two will be slightly censored for the family friendly. Here are Ledger's thoughts two short months ago: "I actually hate comic book movies, like f--ing hate them, they just bore me s--tless and they're just dumb."

Now the simple among us may misinterpret the above statements to mean Heath Ledger does not, you know, like comic book movies very much. But clearly we'd be wrong, and are simply not really understanding what Ledger meant, because recent comments from Ledger suggest a very different idea. From Newsarama comes a brief interview with Ledger in which he discusses his role as the Joker. The moneyline from the entire interview is in Ledger's discussion of his limited comic book knowledge, and how he feels it will help his role: "I was never really a fan of comic books or comic book movies. I never despised them but I was never one to read them. I never sought out the films but I would sit down and enjoy them."

Go ahead and try to reconcile those two quotes. When you give up, you can swing on by Newsarama and check out the rest of the interview.

When the news first broke on the casting of Heath Ledger as the Clown Price of Crime in Nolan's upcoming The Dark Knight (sequel to Batman Begins, if you haven't heard), we all said something of a collective "whaaa?" He took a beating early in the geek circles, but after withholding my opinion for a few days while I thought it over, I ended up suggesting cautious optimism. After another few weeks, I've decided I want to go on record now with my final prediction: I agree with Christian Bale -- Heath Ledger will be a great Joker. Ledger has started talking about the role recently, and here is his general opinion about the casting choice: "I wouldn't have thought of me, either. But it's obviously not going to be what Jack Nicholson did. It's going to be more nuanced and dark and more along the lines of a Clockwork Orange kind of feel." Ledger also said "It's definitely going to stump people. I think it'll be more along the lines of how the Joker was meant to be in the comics, darker and more sinister."

I'm not sure how I feel about the meeting of the Caped Crusader and Clockwork Orange, but I do like what Ledger is saying. It'd be impossible to out-Nicholson Jack Nicholson himself, so admitting up front you are going for a different style is a wise move. Now I know when you think Heath Ledger you don't instantly think "dark and sinister," but I'm going out on a limb here -- I expect him to own this role.

You can commence your disagreeing ... now.

Welcome back to As The Bat Turns! Today we focus in on actor Lachy Hulme, who has long been a front runner for the Joker role in the upcoming sequel to Batman Begins. Poor Paul Bettany has been booted from the rumor mill, but Hulme is still running strong, and still a popular figure among fans. Hulme recently appeared on Australian radio program The Tony Martin Show and discussed his possible appearance in said film. Hulme admitted that big time roles such as the Joker usually go to bigger named actors than himself, but said he has talked with Warner Brothers about appearing in the film. He repeatedly insisted he wasn't allowed to talk about it, but did note he is collecting Batman stuff because it is now "tax deductible" for him. He has also done a lot of Batman comic reading, for reasons he left unexplained.

Certainly sounds like Hulme is planning on being involved with the Batman sequel in some capacity or another. Of course promises are never made and he could be out on the street in tomorrow's rumor mill -- but as for today he is looking good. Stay tuned for further updates ...

Paul Bettany was one of the clear-cut front runners for the Clown Prince of Crime in the Batman rumor mill until a Bat-insider showed up at the incredibly well-informed fan site Batman on Film to declare the studio's disinterest in the actor. BoF tends to be very well-informed, but just like any news site they can't always substantiate their "inside sources;" they just share with us what they hear. The "Paul Bettany as the Joker" rumor camp took yet another serious body blow recently, however, as Paul Bettany himself recently told PR Inside he was not in the running for the role, as far as he was aware. "It's a rumor entirely made up by journalists." Bettany also jokingly speculated the rumors could be a focused effort by the media to lower his price tag for the movie execs. Bettany hypothisized that if he admitted to the media he was interested in the role, then the studio could approach him and say something akin to "okay, great. You can have it it since you want it so much. Here's a fiver for your troubles."