The Dark Knight Blue
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The Dark Knight
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Batman & Joker Green
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Christian Bale reprises the role of Bruce Wayne / Batman, a billionaire who has dedicated himself to protecting Gotham City from the criminal underworld as the "Dark Knight". Bale was confident in his choice to return in the role because of the positive response to his performance in Batman Begins. He trained in the Keysi Fighting Method, and performed many of his own stunts. He did not gain as much muscle this time, because of the storyline in which Batman builds a new suit that allows him to move with more agility. The actor claims Batman's dilemma is whether "[his crusade is] something that has an end? Can he quit and have an ordinary life? The kind of manic intensity someone has to have to maintain the passion and the anger that they felt as a child, takes an effort after awhile, to keep doing that. At some point, you have to exorcise your demons." Bale felt that because of the strong establishment of Batman's personality in Batman Begins, it was unlikely that the character would be overshadowed by the villains: "I have no problem with competing with someone else. And that's going to make a better movie."

Heath Ledger portrays the Joker, whom the actor described as a "psychopathic, mass murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy". Director Christopher Nolan had wanted to work with Ledger on a number of projects in the past, but had been unable to do so. When Ledger saw Batman Begins, he realized a way to make the character work in that film's tone, and Nolan agreed with his anarchic interpretation. To prepare for the role, Ledger lived alone in a hotel room for a month, formulating the character's posture, voice and psychology. While he initially found it difficult, Ledger was eventually able to generate a voice that did not sound like Jack Nicholson's take on the character in Tim Burton's 1989 Batman film. He started a diary, in which he wrote the Joker's thoughts and feelings to guide himself during his performance. He was also given Batman: The Killing Joke and Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth to read, which he "really tried to read and put it down". Ledger also cited inspirations such as A Clockwork Orange and Sid Vicious. Ultimately, "there’s nothing that is consistent", as his main objective was to frighten the audience.

Bringing back the Joker to the big screen invited a wave of speculation over his depiction. Before Ledger was confirmed in July 2006, Paul Bettany, Lachy Hulme, Adrien Brody, Steve Carell, and Robin Williams had publicly expressed interest in the role. Jack Nicholson was disappointed that he had not been approached to reprise the part. "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," he said. "Maybe it's not a mistake. Maybe it was the right thing, but to be candid, I'm furious." After the trailer was released, director Guillermo del Toro and comic book writer Jeph Loeb lavished praise upon Ledger, while Batman: The Animated Series co-creator Paul Dini said, "He seems more street than any other version of the Joker His attitude is mordant and sardonic as opposed to manic No goofy gags or puns for him. This Joker doesn't split sides... he splits skulls." Mark Hamill, who voiced the part on The Animated Series, said "The balls-out debauched psycho approach seems like a great way of reinventing everyone’s favorite scary (and scary) clown." Ledger died on January 22, 2008, after filming had been completed. Entertainment Weekly said of the death's likely effect on audiences, "No one will be able to watch [The Dark Knight] without seeing unintended ironies and eerie portents of doom."

Aaron Eckhart plays district attorney Harvey Dent / Two-Face, for whom battling the Joker takes a dark toll. Eckhart described the character of Harvey Dent as coming from the same world as Batman, but simultaneously being apart from it. "I'm looking for the tension between the two, the similarities between the two. I want to