Netflix Names Heath Ledger's The Joker as the Best Villain

Who is the greatest villain in history? From Die Hard’s Hans Guber to Star Wars’ Darth Vader, [...]

By Jamie Jirak

Who is the greatest villain in history? From Die Hard's Hans Guber to Star Wars' Darth Vader, there are lots of acceptable answers. However, the folks over at Netflix want you to know that their favorite is none other than Heath Ledger's version of The Joker from The Dark Knight.

"Name a better villain. I'll wait," Netflix Film writes.

While this topic is certainly debatable, there's no denying that Ledger's Joker is towards the top of the Best Villains list. Not only were fans of DC Comics lovers of the actor's portrayal, but he was even honored at the Academy Awards in 2009 by winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Sadly, the prize went to Ledger posthumously, but it was an impressive win against Josh Brolin (Milk), Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road), Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder), and Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt).

Many Netflix fans were quick to respond to the tweet with their own answers that ranged from No Country for Old Men's Anton Chigurh (which was also an Academy Award-winning performance by Javier Bardem) to the current President of the United Stated. Some of the replies even got a hilarious response from the Netflix account.

Heath Ledger may have done a flawless job portraying the Batman villain, but he wasn't the first and certainly will not be the last. Jack Nicholson notably played the part in Batman (1989) and the role was most recently played by Jared Leto on the big screen in Suicide Squad. While many people weren't huge fans of Leto's performance, he is expected to reprise the role in the upcoming sequel, which is titled The Suicide Squad. He's also signed on to play the part again in two untitled productions.

However, fans seem much more excited about the upcoming Joker film to star Joaquin Phoenix. Joker, which also stars Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, and Shea Whigham, is set to be released on October 4th.

Who do you think is the greatest villain of all time? Who is your favorite Joker? Tell us in the comments!

The Dark Knight is currently available to stream on Netflix.

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