Well who would have thought it but apparently Jack Nicholson really wanted to play the Joker one more time. I had always assumed that Jack Nicholson’s turn in Batman was right up there with Brando’s turn in Superman, something a high powered actor did for the money without really caring a whole lot about it.

I have to say that undoubtedly Jack Nicholson would have cost money, but there’s really no one who can do the Joker quite like him, Nicholson is as close to the embodiment of the Joker as you can get, while Heath Ledger’s Joker looks more like a movie slasher out of something directed by Rob Zombie than the stylish and evilly funny Joker of Batman.

MTV: What do you think of another actor, Heath Ledger, playing the Joker in next summer’s “The Dark Knight”?

Nicholson: Let me be the way I’m not in interviews. I’m furious. I’m furious. [He laughs.] They never asked me about a sequel with the Joker. I know how to do that! Nobody ever asked me.

MTV: It was never brought up?

Nicholson: No. It’s like, in any area, you can’t believe the reasons things do or don’t happen. Not asking me how to do the sequel is that kind of thing. Maybe it’s not a mistake. Maybe it was the right thing, but to be candid, I’m furious.

MTV: I’m surprised to hear you sounding competitive about a role like that.

Nicholson: Well, the Joker comes from my childhood. That’s how I got involved with it in the first place. It’s a part I always thought I should play.

MTV: Will you see the new film?

Nicholson: I’m not inclined to watch it because of what I said. But if it’s a good movie, I’ll catch up with it somewhere. I don’t think they ever really captured Tim Burton’s spirit [since he stopped being involved]. They kind of drove the franchise into the ground. Tim Burton’s a genius. He had the right take on it. That’s why I did the movie. I did the movie based on a single conversation with him. We both come from the cartoon world originally. We had similar ideas. Tim said [the Joker] should have a humorous dark side to him. [Burton is] one of the great moviemakers. I think the world of him. He’s the most unassuming man. And he doesn’t feel pressure. That’s what I love about him. Once he’s in there, he’s smiling making the movie. That’s it!

Well I included a lot of excess because I think it’s an interesting interview and yes essentially, Tim Burton went way over the line with Batman Forever, but it was still a lot more interesting than the next Batman movies, whether it was the Joel Schumacher disasters or even Batman Begins. Batman Begins was an interesting experiment, but let’s face it the best thing about it was Michael Caine and he didn’t really make a believable Alfred either.

Tim Burton was not quite right for Batman, but they didn’t find anyone better and there is no topping Jack Nicholson as the Joker. Heath Ledger’s Joker appears to be a more straight line psycho and a not particularly original or interesting one. To some this may be in line with Shatner grousing about being left out of Star Trek XI but I would say this really goes to the heart of the movie’s ambition, sometimes realism is overrated when you deal with a comic book franchise.