Heath Ledger fans unhappy with new Joker casting on actor's death anniversary

It has been 18 years since the death of the great Heath Ledger, the late Australian actor who played Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight.

Heath’s portrayal of the DC villain left a huge mark on the comics fans as they still struggle to replace him with any other actor in the titular role.

On January 22, 2008, Ledger died from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.

In 2009, the late versatile actor won the Academy Award for playing Joker in The Dark Knight. The award was received by his family on his behalf.

Some of his other notable works include films like The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, The Patriot, Brokeback Mountain and A Knight’s Tale.

As the new Batman movie is in works, the rumoured casting reveals Barry Keoghan playing the Joker in the Matt Reeves directorial.

On the death anniversary of Ledger, fans are not only mourning his legacy, but they have also expressed their disappointed with the rumoured casting and are also drawing Barry’s comparison with Heath.

As one of them wrote on X, “I'm really nervous with Barry as the Joker. I dont see him outperforming Heath Ledger.”

“Can we just skip the Joker please? PLEASE? there's almost no way it goes well”, wrote another.

Meanwhile, there some DC fans that are trying to accept the Saltburn actor as Joker, but they still believe Heath was the best one.

A social media user wrote, “Barry Keoghan as Joker! that's gonna be interesting. favorite Joker so far: Heath Ledger."

Starring Robert Pattinson in the lead role, The Batman Part II is slated to release on October 1, 2027.