Originally Posted by After Shock Media

Why does so many have such a hard on for Heath Ledger, the movie franchise is very far from dependant on the joker and as much as most think he did such a ZOMG type performance, he just played the role as it should have by most competent actors would in filling the role of such a villain. Seems the only reason people are really that amazed with it is that this series more follows the tones of the comics and graphic novels and is not based on the cheese gimmicks of the first attempts at the film which was way more akin to the depth of the television show and far from loyal to the books. Batman has rarely really been about the villains as much as his own personal issues.