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Christopher Nolan’s best Batman villains, ranked by how iconic they are

By Sarah Perchikoff

Photo: Batman Begins.. Image Courtesy Warner Bros. / DC Universe
Photo: Batman Begins.. Image Courtesy Warner Bros. / DC Universe /
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PERTH, AUSTRALIA – FEBRUARY 12: Film goers watch The Dark Knight featuring Heath Ledger during a public tribute outdoor movie night to the late actor at Burswood Park on February 12, 2011 in Perth, Australia. Australian actor Heath Ledger won a posthumous Oscar for his portrayal of the Joker in the movie The Dark Knight. Ledger died from an accidental toxic combination of prescription drugs on January 22, 2008. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
PERTH, AUSTRALIA – FEBRUARY 12: Film goers watch The Dark Knight featuring Heath Ledger during a public tribute outdoor movie night to the late actor at Burswood Park on February 12, 2011 in Perth, Australia. Australian actor Heath Ledger won a posthumous Oscar for his portrayal of the Joker in the movie The Dark Knight. Ledger died from an accidental toxic combination of prescription drugs on January 22, 2008. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images) /

1. The Joker

If you thought anyone but Heath Ledger’s Joker was going to be at the top of the list…maybe you need to watch these movies again. No other Nolan Batman villain has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor let alone winning one. Heath Ledger’s performance is the stuff of legends. It’s just too bad he didn’t live to see the success.

No other portrayal of The Joker has made their mark on a movie like this one. Sorry not sorry, Jared Leto and Joaquin Phoenix fans. Heath Ledger may not be the first actor to portray the chaotic villain, but he’s without a doubt the best.

We really should have waited at least 20 years before other actors even tried for this part. Heath Ledger went above and beyond and only time will allow someone to have any chance of filling those shoes.

The Joker is also one of the only villains to give Batman a run for his money. Bane is really the only other villain to do that.

The Joker is also not easy to catch, has a twisted sense of humor,  doesn’t give a crap about money or material things, and wrecks unpredictable chaos and havoc wherever he goes. There’s nothing better than a villain with no morals or tragic backstory or reason for doing what he’s doing. Just pure unadulterated evil.

He even turns what we think are good and moral characters (Harvey Dent) into villains. Not many other bad guys in any story, let alone this one, achieves that.

The makeup, the clothes, the scene in the hospital, it all comes together to ensure the Joker is the absolute best villain to come out of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy.

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Do you have a favorite Batman villain? Think this list should have included someone else? Let us know in the comments

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