Canceled Dark Knight Video Game Allegedly Reveals Heath Ledger's Joker's Ending

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The untimely passing of Heath Ledger not only cost the world one of its most astonishing acting talents, but also the opportunity to see more of an instant classic iteration of an iconic DC villain. Allegedly, Ledger's Joker from The Dark Knight almost lived on as a video game character.

A video game adaptation of The Dark Knight would have revealed the fate of Heath Ledger's Joker beyond the events of Christopher Nolan's groundbreaking sequel to Batman Begins. Unfortunately, Batman: The Dark Knight was canceled in October 2008 after two years in development under Pandemic Studios and EA Games. Fortunately, storyboards from the open-world video game are available to check out online, and were all shared in one place on Reddit in the GamingLeaksAndRumors subreddit by TFA_Screamy_008.

One animated storyboard available to watch on Vimeo shows The Joker watching Batman (based on the likeness of acclaimed live-action Batman actor Christian Bale) glide through the night sky in the window of his padded cell at Arkham Asylum. He seems to stare at the vigilante longingly, which reflects one of the best quotes from The Dark Knight, in which the clownish criminal reveals that he does not wish to kill his adversary and channels his inner Tom Cruise from Jerry Maguire to tell him, "You complete me."

In another especially creepy animated storyboard taking place at Arkham, a grimly grinning Joker also appears to be wearing leg braces of some sort in his cell. It is hard to say what this is meant to imply, but it could indicate that the character's video game counterpart would suffer a debilitating injury while in battle with Batman. Otherwise, it could be a way of incapacitating him as an extra security measure.

Speaking of battles with Batman, one of the more exciting animated storyboards sees The Joker attempting to frame Batman for murder by knocking him out with some explosive device and then stabbing a woman to death with a Batarang. There is enough evidence in the film itself to call The Dark Knight's Joker more dangerous than any other version, but the actions of his video game counterpart reinforce that belief quite effectively.

Gary Oldman Spilled The Beans About Batman: The Dark Knight

Gary Oldman as James Gordon in The Dark Knight

The storyboards for Batman: The Dark Knight also reveal that Bruce Wayne's alter ego would have spent some time on Gotham City rooftops with Commissioner James Gordon, voiced by Gary Oldman. The future Academy Award winner is actually responsible for bringing the project to the public's attention, but prematurely so.

While being interviewed by G4, the English actor was asked if there would be a Dark Knight video game, much like the underrated Batman Begins tie-in game. Oldman, who had been given a peek at Batman: The Dark Knight's progress, revealed that Pandemic Studios' project was in development, unaware that it was supposed to be kept secret.

The newfound publicity surrounding the game would only add to the increasing pressure that its developers had been facing, with technical problems and employee walk-outs making it a challenge for Pandemic Studios to keep up with the projected release date. This would ultimately lead to EA canceling it.

The eventual unveiling of the game's production details and the aforementioned storyboards created an appreciation for its potential. Batman: The Dark Knight would have been the first open-world Batman video game and, as such, is often looked back on these days as the unreleased predecessor to the award-winning Batman: Arkham City, which itself is a sequel to the acclaimed Batman: Arkham Asylum.

In other words, with all due respect to the beloved Jim Gordon actor, it looks like fans can blame Gary Oldman for costing them the chance to play what could have been an important and impressive chapter in Batman's legacy in video games, as well as one of the medium's scariest depictions of The Joker.

The Dark Knight is available to stream on HBO Max.