Changes

In 1989 Tim Burton's ''Batman'' was released, with Jack Nicholson going all out as the Joker in a performance that many felt upstaged the title character.  In this film the Joker's origins are slightly-modified; he is given a name - Jack Napier - and is portrayed as a mob enforcer who is double-crossed by his boss while attempting to fake a case of industrial espionage at a chemical factory.  A police raid on the factory, as well as the arrival of Batman, ends with Napier falling into a chemical tank...and the creation of the Joker.  Burton's version also has Napier as a much-younger man (played by Hugo Blick) commit the act of murder on Bruce Wayne's parents, the child of whom would grow up to become Batman.

In 1989 Tim Burton's ''Batman'' was released, with Jack Nicholson going all out as the Joker in a performance that many felt upstaged the title character.  In this film the Joker's origins are slightly-modified; he is given a name - Jack Napier - and is portrayed as a mob enforcer who is double-crossed by his boss while attempting to fake a case of industrial espionage at a chemical factory.  A police raid on the factory, as well as the arrival of Batman, ends with Napier falling into a chemical tank...and the creation of the Joker.  Burton's version also has Napier as a much-younger man (played by Hugo Blick) commit the act of murder on Bruce Wayne's parents, the child of whom would grow up to become Batman.

Tim Burton's series of four movies eventually departed to the camp of the 1960's television series with the release of ''Batman and Robin'' in 1997, a critical and financial flop.  Rebooting the franchise led to the Christopher Nolan film ''Batman Begins'' in 2005; the success of which enabled a sequel which was released in 2008.  Using the comic book stories ''The Long Halloween'' and ''The Killing Joke'' as inspirations, Nolan returned the Joker to the big screen in ''The Dark Knight''[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/].  Almost universally lauded by critics and shattering numerous box-office records, ''The Dark Knight'' featured the final performance of [[Heath Ledger]] as a monstrous version of the Joker, a psychotic who thinks the only sane way to live is without rules and wants to prove it to the world - and at the same time giving the artists and writers who penned the Batman stories a version of the Joker they thought was closest to their own.  Beginning in a hopeful manner with the arrests of mob figures and the reduction of crime, conditions spiral downward as the self-described "agent of chaos" places Gotham City on the brink of destruction, and leaving many to wonder if it is Batman who deserves the blame.

Tim Burton's series of four movies eventually departed to the camp of the 1960's television series with the release of ''Batman and Robin'' in 1997, a critical and financial flop.  Rebooting the franchise led to the [[Christopher Nolan]] film ''[[Batman Begins]]'' in 2005; the success of which enabled a sequel which was released in 2008.  Using the comic book stories ''The Long Halloween'' and ''The Killing Joke'' as inspirations, Nolan returned the Joker to the big screen in ''[[The Dark Knight]]''[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/].  Almost universally lauded by critics and shattering numerous box-office records, ''The Dark Knight'' featured the final performance of [[Heath Ledger]] as a monstrous version of the Joker, a psychotic who thinks the only sane way to live is without rules and wants to prove it to the world - and at the same time giving the artists and writers who penned the Batman stories a version of the Joker they thought was closest to their own.  Beginning in a hopeful manner with the arrests of mob figures and the reduction of crime, conditions spiral downward as the self-described "agent of chaos" places Gotham City on the brink of destruction, and leaving many to wonder if it is Batman who deserves the blame.

The effect of Ledger's performance has caused some fans to ask Warner Brothers to cease placing the Joker in any future films.[http://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/02/heath-ledger-nu/]

The effect of Ledger's performance has caused some fans to ask Warner Brothers to cease placing the Joker in any future films.[http://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/02/heath-ledger-nu/]