Back in 2008, the late Heath Ledger received major plaudits (and a Best Supporting Actor Oscar) for his stunning performance as the psychotic Joker in The Dark Knight.

However its director Christopher Nolan has become so serious about not mentioning the Joker at all in The Dark Knight Rises.

Nolan insisted that it wouldn’t feel appropriate to talk about the villain’s fate given the tragic circumstances of Ledger’s death back in ’08.

“We’re not addressing the Joker at all. That is something I felt very strongly about in terms of my relationship with Heath and the experience I went through with him on The Dark Knight. I didn’t want to in any way try and account for a real-life tragedy. That seemed inappropriate to me. We just have a new set of characters and a continuation of Bruce Wayne’s story, not involving the Joker.”

The news comes after Tom Hardy (who plays Bane in Rises) insisted that he didn’t want his performance to be compared to the critically acclaimed one that Ledger gave.

“That would be putting myself in a competition with somebody who’s clearly brilliant and it’s not a question of whose talent is greater or whose work is greater. It’s just trying to be the best that we can be. I’m not trying to be better than somebody else. What he did was amazing, that’s that. I’ve got a part I’ve got to play, and I want to play my part.”

Admittingly Nolan’s decision is a brave one though there will be a lot of fans (including me) who’ll be disappointed that there won’t be at least one reference to the greatest villain in film. There certainly isn’t a smile on my face!