Heath Ledger’s Joker from 2008’s The Dark Knight was partially inspired by five surprising celebrity icons, compiled to make the perfect Batman villain. Long before the beginning of the DC Universe, Academy Award-winning director Christopher Nolan adapted DC Comics’ Caped Crusader in a trilogy of dark films, comprising Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. Opposing Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne, a.k.a. Batman, in The Dark Knight was Heath Ledger’s Joker, a role which earned the actor a posthumous Academy Award, and has been recognized as one of the strongest portrayals of the sinister Clown Prince of Crime.

Several actors have portrayed the Joker in the villain’s live-action history, including Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, Jared Leto, and Joaquin Phoenix in Todd Phillips’ Joker franchise. However, Heath Ledger’s iteration of the terrifying Batman villain has gone down in history as one of the most popular, due in large part to the late actor’s full commitment to the demanding role. The dark but charismatic tones of Heath Ledger’s Joker allowed him to shine in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, but some of the inspirations behind the Joker’s costume design, mannerisms, and character choices may come as a surprise to many.

Joker’s Design Inspirations Include Some Unexpected Figures

In a video shared by The Director’s Cut back in 2019, The Dark Knight trilogy costume designer Lindy Hemming revealed more about the inspiration behind the look of Heath Ledger’s Joker. Hemming started out with a number of reference images, leaning on the Joker’s purple-and-green motif from DC Comics, while also noting several iconic celebrities who formed inspiration for the Joker’s design in The Dark Knight. Notably, Terence Stamp, Bill Wyman, Iggy Pop, Adam Ant and Keith Richards were revealed to be the primary inspirations for Heath Ledger’s Joker, giving the villain classic rock-star vibes, and a truly villainous backbone.

Why The Dark Knight’s Joker Design Inspirations All Make Perfect Sense

These sources of inspiration for Heath Ledger’s Joker perhaps couldn’t have been more perfect. For starters, Terence Stamp is one of the most acclaimed villain actors of all time, having portrayed villains in a huge range of movies, including 1978’s Superman, 1999’s Star Wars Episode I – The Phantom Menace, and, more recently, in 2021’s Last Night in Soho, among many others. Stamp’s level of sophistication and magnetism on-screen was perfectly demonstrated in the mannerisms and costume of Heath Ledger’s Joker in 2008, forging him into a captivating adversary to Batman in Nolan’s second installment in The Dark Knight trilogy.

Along with Terence Stamp, four rock legends also inspired the Joker’s costume and demeanor in The Dark Knight. Both Bill Wyman and Keith Richards are current or former members of legendary band The Rolling Stones, while Iggy Pop has often been referred to as the ‘Godfather of Punk’, bringing a sense of status, notability and creativity to the design of the Joker. Adam Ant’s inclusion only enhanced this, as the English lead singer of Adam and the Ants is world-renowned for his theatricality and glitzy performativity, which is something Heath Ledger’s Joker delivered in spades in 2008’s The Dark Knight.​​​​​​​