​Family Of Heath Ledger Once Confirmed A Huge Dark Knight Rises Rumour

The late Heath Ledger will forever be remembered for his legendary performance as The Joker in The Dark Knight, but his family once revealed that he had actually planned to return to the franchise to reprise his award-winning role.

Ledger starred in Christopher Nolan's 2008 film - the second in his Dark Knight Trilogy - but tragically, just six months before the opening, he died unexpectedly after an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.

PA

But according to the star's family, he had planned to work on 'another Batman' film before his untimely death.

The third movie, The Dark Knight Rises, was released in 2012 with Tom Hardy cast as the series' new villain Bane.

However, rumours persisted among fans that this was actually never the plan, and that Nolan actually wanted to finish the story which Ledger had started.

This was never confirmed, as no one actually knew whether the final scenes of The Joker hanging upside down were going to remain a dramatic cliff-hanger and nothing more.

Warner Bros.

But the late actor's sister, Kate Ledger, revealed that he had indeed planned to wear the horrific makeup and purple suit once again.

Speaking to news.com.au about I Am Heath - the documentary about her brother's life and death - she confirmed that the late actor had very much wanted to return to Gotham City.

She said: "He was a really happy person and he had huge plans for his future.

"I spoke to him the night before [he died] and we were laughing and joking.

"He was so proud of what he had done in Batman. And I know he had plans for another Batman.

"He loved working with Chris Nolan and Christian Bale and Gary Oldman.

"He just had the best time ever doing that film.

"When he came home at Christmas, he couldn't wait to tell us all about it, and he was doing the voice and laughing, showing me all the rushes. We had a great time."

Speaking about the documentary, which was released in 2017, she added: "It's been incredibly emotional for all of us but actually something that we are extremely proud of and something that I think has been necessary.

"We feel that it's kind of given Heath a voice, and our family, and can really talk about the truth of who he was."

Topics: Entertainment, TV and Film

Jess Hardiman

Jess is a journalist at LADbible who graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics - indecisiveness at its finest, right there. She also works for FOODbible and its sister page Seitanists, which are both a safe haven for her to channel a love for homemade pasta, fennel and everything else in between. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

@Jess_Hardiman