The Joker is unquestionably one of the greatest, most feared villains in the movie industry of all time. At first glance, he is just a clown, a typical villain used in many movies, making it seem like The Dark Knight is going to be another cliché superhero movie. However, it’s the meaning behind the joker and the acts of pure evil he commits throughout the movie that make him such a perfect villain and keeps the audience coming back for more. The Dark Knight movie poster focuses on the overall mystery of the Joker himself and draws the audience in with its choice of color, visual use of fog, and emphasis on the phrase in the center of the poster, “Why So Serious?”  

The use of color in this poster not only adds to the dark and gloomy day portrayed, but also to the feeling that comes over the city of Gotham when the Joker arrives. These colors were chosen to have an eerie feel, but also to illustrate a deeper meaning that relates to the movie. Blue usually doesn’t attract too much attention, especially when it is being faded out in the poster. This is why it was chosen to be used in the background, so that the audience is more attracted to the main character of the poster. However, blue is typically associated with sincerity and trust, ironically so because the Joker is the exact opposite of a trusting character in this movie. Nonetheless, this is a tactic that is used to get the audience to open up to the Joker and give him a chance before they watch the movie. Some audience members may even side with the Joker and become to like him as a character, even though he is the villain. Grey, on the other hand, correlates with an emotionless feel which is more directly related to the Joker and how he acts, being that he has the ability to go on these constant killing sprees and seemingly have no remorse. This also gives the audience a glimpse of what’s to come in the movie by being introduced to this color before actually seeing it. 

Although the audience is most likely to focus on the most apparent point of the poster and the Joker first, the background attracts attention as well. The skyline positioned behind the Joker is barely visible because of the fog, also indicating that it is a gloomy day outside. Hardly seeing the city skyline creates a sense of distance, drawing the audience in because they don’t know exactly why there is a skyline or why they can barely see it. Even the main character of the poster, the Joker himself is hardly seen because of the fog. The darkness and fog surrounding the Joker shows his true nature and indicates to the audience that he is the villain of the movie. One may question why one of the main characters of the movie is blurry, but this creates the same sense of mystery that the blurriness of the skyline does. The audience already has so many questions about the Joker, and why he is so mysterious that it pulls them in. The mystery that surrounds the Joker on the poster is also a preview into the actual movie because the Joker never truly reveals who he is. The fog covers the Joker’s entire figure except his hands, which is meant to stand out to the audience. He is wearing gloves, showing his criminal nature, being that criminals normally wear gloves to hide their fingerprints so they don’t get caught; this also refers back to the fact that he wants to keep his identity hidden. 

Granted that the background of the poster is so blurry, it emphasizes the “Why So Serious?” that the Joker is writing. This is the focus of the entire poster, especially being that it is the only thing not being consumed by the fog and clearly shown to the audience. Because it is spotlighted on the poster, it shows the viewers that this is one of the main points, if not the most important point of the whole movie. The question itself, “Why So Serious?” shows the Joker’s carefree attitude, as he laughs at Batman’s effort to save the city when he is just going to destroy it himself. This question becomes his slogan throughout the movie, and also gives the viewer a glimpse of the Joker’s past when he tells the story about how he got the scars on his face. Connected to the “S” at the end of “Serious” is a smile which is associated with the Joker’s past, as he explains in the movie that his father would ask him, “Why So Serious?” and mutilated his face to force a “smile” on him. The audience is introduced to his past before they even see the movie by seeing the smile attached to the question on the poster. The Joker’s past is one of the most important things about the movie because it explains to the audience how he became the villain and why he commits the murder and the terror that he does. The writing is in red, symbolizing blood and giving it a negative connotation, most likely evil and again reiterating that the Joker is the villain of the film. The red writing also refers to the possibility of death, since it is associated with blood. 

According to the Joker, “if you give a man a mask, he becomes his true self.” Ironically, Heath Ledger had to put on a symbolic mask to play the part of the Joker, an insane serial killer, and many speculate that this contributed to his death because he got so into character. Although the entire film is centered around the Joker, the audience never learns who he truly is, how he became like this, and what exactly happened in his life for him to become this villain. This theme is exemplified by the movie poster, and thus, who was the joker without the mask, who was he without all the makeup? 
