ROTTEN TOMATOES: "The Dark Knight" Chatter: Heath Ledger On The Joker, Bob Hoskins as The Penguin?

"The Dark Knight" Chatter: Heath Ledger On The Joker, Bob Hoskins as The Penguin?

by Jen Yamato | September 11, 2006

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We already know "Brokeback" star Heath Ledger is working on his maniacal grin for Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins" sequel, but is Bob Hoskins practicing his waddle to play Gotham City's tuxedoed baddie?

The sharp folks over at IGN FilmForce posed the question to Hoskins at the L.A. premiere of "Hollywoodland" last week:

"When asked if the rumors were true, a sincerely surprised Hoskins replied, "Where did you hear that?" Hoskins was told it was in magazines and online.

Bob Hoskins as MGM Studio chief Eddie Mannix in "Hollywoodland."

IGN then asked the "Long Good Friday" and "Mrs. Henderson Presents" actor if he would accept the Penguin role if offered to which he responded, "Yeah, of course!"

When asked if he'd like to work with director Christopher Nolan, Hoskins replied simply, "Yeah, love to," before being escorted away from reporters.

Anyone who hasn't already thought about Hoskins in the role (made legendary by Burgess Meredith, made revolting by Danny DeVito) might now realize that Hoskins would make a fantastic Penguin -- debonair, intelligent, sinister. He could provide a very interesting villainous counterpoint to The Joker, which surprise pick Heath Ledger (who is beginning to settle in as the painted psychopath) says will be a far different Joker than what we've seen in Batmans past:

The face of the new Joker.

"It's going to be more nuanced and dark and more along the lines of "A Clockwork Orange" kind of feel. Which is, I think, what the comic book was after: less about his laugh and more about his eyes."

Related Items

Movie:	A Clockwork Orange
	Batman Begins
	Hollywoodland
Celeb:	Christian Bale
	Bob Hoskins
	Christopher Nolan

(1-17 of 17 posts) | Reply

arpeggio191 writes:
on Sep 11 2006 02:09 PM

[b]holy crap...[/b]
this just gets better and better. Nolan is awesome. Christian Bale is freakin' awesome. Hoskins would make a great Penguin. Although, given that it sounds like it's a rumor, i have to admit that Seyemore Hoffman would make a better Penguin in my mind... but either way... good choice (if they are true.)

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hugz4thugz writes:
on Sep 11 2006 02:36 PM

NOOOOOO! I hate the Penguin. The Penguin sucks donkey balls as a character. I hope Nolan doesnt feel like he needs to have big name lame ass villians to sell tickets. Batman Begins had no real big name villian, unless if you want to count scarecrow, and it was freaking awesome. I just hope Nolan doesnt start rehashing characters from previous batman flicks. I trust Nolan but please no Penguin.

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TheAnswerMVP2001 writes:
on Sep 11 2006 02:59 PM

I thought this second film was going to revolve around the Joker and Harvey Dent, being a set up for Two-face in the third.....so where would The Penguin fit into all of this? And really I think The Penguin is probably the most annoying Batman villian of them all. They should do Catwomen if anything and fix the mess Halley Berry and that horrible film made.

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lavatory love machine writes:
on Sep 11 2006 03:34 PM

I hope there's no joker on the dark knight, mayve on the third part but for this one I was hoping a kind of two sides of the same person thing for batman/joker

the clockwork orange comment form ledger is great, that's what I had in mind, but even darker than Alex and not so eager to launch a clever speech

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nazgul writes:
on Sep 11 2006 04:00 PM

Is no one here a Harley Quinn fan?? Id would LOVE to see her on the big screen instead of The Penguin. Not to sure who Id have play her but Kelly Ripa or even the chick that plays Starbuck from BG. Joker and Harvey Dent would be just fine as well just as long as its a good movie as the last.

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dylan21484nj writes:
on Sep 11 2006 05:14 PM

In reply to this comment (#844073)
a lot of people want to see Harley Quinn make an appearance of some sort, even if it's a cameo role as Joker's doctor, Harleen Quinzel, before she falls in love with "Mr. J." it would set her character up for future films quite nicely.

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Darth_Ninch writes:
on Sep 11 2006 06:20 PM

I think The Penguin would be awesome for Nolan's Batman. I hated DeVito's; he was so annoying as the character. But I feel this British arms dealer approach to the character will make for an interesting villain.

The Clockwork Orange comment is great.

I can't wait to see what other villains will make an appearence in The Dark Knight.

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Matanuki writes:
on Sep 11 2006 09:37 PM

In reply to this comment (#844075)
[b]Clockwork[/b]
I don't endorse a single iota of any of the Batman films prior to Begins, and that goes double for the ridiculous portrayal of the villains. I'm excited about the Clockwork Orange take on the Joker as well as Penguin as a British Arms dealer. Harley Quinn? Sure, why not. But I hear Talia is the second tier villian in this one, come to avenge her father's death. That I'd love to see, keeping a ninjutsu fighter in the mix as a worthy opponent. It would be a waste to see Batman just beating up people who can't toe down with him, or worse, to go the Burton route and have characters with no professional fighting background (a la the first Joker) miraculously capable of going one on one with the Bat. I have no worries though because at the end of the day, I trust Nolan with my favorite comic book franchise and am excited to see what decisions he makes for the upcoming sequel. My few gripes are small. First, he's gotta do something about that Batmobile! And while he's at it, some better fight scene choreography wouldn't hurt. And please, above all else, no more Katie Holmes. I won't mind if her character just conveniently moved away or something, or, better, is killed off before the story begins. That in fact would be an interesting way to add an even darker edge to Batman, servicing the contrast to The Joker.

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unbreakable_samurai writes:
on Sep 12 2006 10:35 AM

Hoskins would be the perfect penguin, I hope they give him the role. I can hardly wait for this film.

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Paul_Is_Drunk writes:
on Sep 12 2006 11:37 AM

The first movie had three villians... Scarecrow, Ra's al Ghul, and Carmine Falcone... and it worked great. Joker, the Penguin (as an arms dealer), and maybe set up Harvey Dent? Awesome.

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Matanuki writes:
on Sep 12 2006 12:13 PM

In reply to this comment (#844078)
(sigh) I take it nobody cares for Talia. I sure hope Nolan doesn't read into that and decide to drop her from the roster. She's the only one of these characters that we haven't seen portrayed on film, with respect of course to Harley Quinn. As for Dent, I hear he will just be a set up for the third film, a friend and not yet a foe. He gets burnt perhaps at the beginning of the third film in a Joker murder trial. That would be cool. I'd love to see Guy Pierce tackle the role. Can you say.. "PERFECT"?

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knowingtoast85 writes:
on Sep 12 2006 12:26 PM

I've condensed this article for fun. RT News Cliff Notes, if you will?

BOB HOSKINS AS PENGUIN?

Is Bob Hoskins going to play The Penguin in Chris Nolan's next Batman movie? We asked Bob Hoskins and he had no clue what the hell we were talking about. In no way was he approached with this role or even considered for it. Rumors were generated in magazines and online.

Um, Bob Hoskins would make a good penguin. We think so, anyway.

When asked about playing The Joker, Heath Ledger had something to say that had nothing to do with The Penguin. We needed a quote about something, anything, so as to appear more reputable.

There you have it. Seriously, soon we're going to hear that Peter Jackson is directing.

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Matanuki writes:
on Sep 12 2006 01:16 PM

In reply to this comment (#844080)
lol. Yeah, that would be funny. (knock on wood) But if in some strange cosmic vortex Peter Jackson were to direct it, we'd better bring sleeping bags and marshmellows to the viewing.

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dubz33 writes:
on Sep 19 2006 09:59 AM

this movieis gonna be fucking awesome no matter what at first i was a little skeptical on a gay cowboy as the joker but hopefully and from rumors it sounds like it will be okay Bale says hes doing good so I trust Bale As Bob Hoskins as the penguin as long as he doesnt have luigi his side kick next to him

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GandalfTheWhite writes:
on Sep 20 2006 11:14 AM

He'd make a great penguin, but with the joker, two-face recently as a possibility, do we need 3 villians?

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calth writes:
on Nov 16 2006 10:56 AM

In reply to this comment (#844070)
WOOT???? No Big Name Villains?? What Do You Call Ras'Al'Ghul???

(Reply to this)

calth writes:
on Nov 16 2006 11:02 AM

on a different note...
Strangely I see the Jokers Make-Up on Ledgers face in that BBackMountain StillFrame...

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