Heath Ledger died months before The Dark Knight arrived in theaters. As a result, the actor never got to see the response to his performance as The Joker or receive the "Best Supporting Actor" Oscar, which he was posthumously awarded the following year.
According to The Amazing Spider-Man star Andrew Garfield, Ledger was understandably confident about The Dark Knight being a hit after teaming with Christopher Nolan on the Batman Begins sequel.
Garfield, who shared the screen with Ledger in 2009's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, remembers the actor as a "very generous, beautiful, creative spirit." He'd call him "a kind of beacon, it was like a wild animal" on set, adding, "He was so free and so wild and so, kind of dangerous on set in a way that was the kind of thing that is inspiring and spontaneous."
"He would say before every take, or one take every scene, 'Let's have some fun with this one.'"
"He had just done The Joker, he had just finished doing The Dark Knight, and he was so smug about it," Garfield added with a smile. "I was like, 'How did that go?' and he was like, 'Yeah, it's really good.'"
"I remember his like, Empire magazine cover came out and he was like, 'Oh, they used a f***ing sh*t photo. And I was like, 'Are you kidding me, dude that looks f***ing incredible.' And he was like, 'Nah, the pose is all wrong, it looks kinda like a conventional version of what an actor...you'll see.' And yeah, I did see."
The Dark Knight was a critically acclaimed box office hit, grossing $1 billion and earning widespread critical acclaim. Ledger's Joker remains one of the most beloved to ever grace the screen and, for many fans, his portrayal has yet to be beaten.
As for Garfield, it was a few years later when he was cast as Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man, a role he'd reprise in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in 2014 and then again in 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home.
You can watch the full interview with Garfield below.
In The Dark Knight, with the help of allies Lt. Jim Gordon and DA Harvey Dent, Batman has been able to keep a tight lid on crime in Gotham City. But when a vile young criminal calling himself the Joker suddenly throws the town into chaos, the caped Crusader begins to tread a fine line between heroism and vigilantism.
The movie's cast includes Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Morgan Freeman. It would go on to become the first superhero movie to gross over $1 billion at the worldwide box office.
The Dark Knight is currently streaming on Max.