A lot has been said about the look of The Joker in The Dark Knight especially considering how much praise Heath Ledger has been getting for the role. We even posted an article a while back that showed what The Joker scars looked like underneath all the makeup. Peter over at /Film, however, put us on to some of the early concept art for The Joker (before Heath Ledger was cast) and it makes the final Joker look pretty tame in comparison.

These images are all from the book, The Dark Knight: Featuring Production Art and Full Shooting Script by Craig Byrne (Author), DC Comics (Contributor), Mike Essl (Contributor), and Alexander Tochilovsky (Contributor). They clearly show that the production team had the idea for the cheek sliced scars from early on in the process.

The hair definitely changed from this green, spiky concept to the longer, greasy hair that Heath Ledger had in the movie. I’m not certain if that was a contribution from Ledger or if the character just evolved into that (maybe Ledger’s hair wouldn’t spike like that?). It’s some pretty cool stuff.


I’d encourage you to check out the book if you’re a fan. Not only does it contain these images, but it also has a full shooting script for the film. Cool stuff.







That first one was sick! Yuck. I like the greasy hair better than the short spiky green hair. I never thought I'd say that sentence.
That first one was sick! Yuck. I like the greasy hair better than the short spiky green hair. I never thought I'd say that sentence.
That first one was sick! Yuck. I like the greasy hair better than the short spiky green hair. I never thought I'd say that sentence.
That first one was sick! Yuck. I like the greasy hair better than the short spiky green hair. I never thought I'd say that sentence.
That first one was sick! Yuck. I like the greasy hair better than the short spiky green hair. I never thought I'd say that sentence.
The first one is creepy looking. It looks like something out of the SAW movies.
The first one is creepy looking. It looks like something out of the SAW movies.
The first one is creepy looking. It looks like something out of the SAW movies.
The first one is creepy looking. It looks like something out of the SAW movies.
The first one is creepy looking. It looks like something out of the SAW movies.
The long greasy hair was way better. The scar's on this one is pretty evil though but I feel that it dehumanizes the character too much. We do need to remember he is still a man, no a cenobyte.
The long greasy hair was way better. The scar's on this one is pretty evil though but I feel that it dehumanizes the character too much. We do need to remember he is still a man, no a cenobyte.
The long greasy hair was way better. The scar's on this one is pretty evil though but I feel that it dehumanizes the character too much. We do need to remember he is still a man, no a cenobyte.
The long greasy hair was way better. The scar's on this one is pretty evil though but I feel that it dehumanizes the character too much. We do need to remember he is still a man, no a cenobyte.
The long greasy hair was way better. The scar's on this one is pretty evil though but I feel that it dehumanizes the character too much. We do need to remember he is still a man, no a cenobyte.
definetly the final look was the best choice,those other
options dehumanized Mr.J’s look, like some said here..
it’s pretty sick!! yuck o_O