Re: Batman Begins' sequel (Merged)
If I were going to do a 'realistic' Joker- I would dispense with the 'falling into a vat of chemicals' origin. I would concentrate on what he does for the first act- i.e. what is that something extra that he does that seperates him from a general murderer- motivation, deliberation, execution, etc
and as he gets more theatrical in his approach, I would have him 'dress up' for the final confrontation- the white face, the green hair etc used for a specific occassion-
and although it would be a cliche- you could then have the scene at the end of the film where the doctors at the asylum comment that the substances, he used unwittingly, were so toxic, that they permently destroyed his skin color (or some rationale like that- Ha Ha , joke was on him)
From then on, I would have him purposefully, dye his hair, whenever he wanted to 'get himself into character'. Without his hair being permently dyed, he has a better chance at playing the repentant, remoresful, 'victim' to gain sympathy and advantage in certain situations. Green hair, bright red lips- sends the character over the top, which is fine for certain situations, but it also dilutes his effectiveness if hes seen all the time like that. However, there are plenty of people with Albinoism, or de-pigmentation, that seeing someone with a ghostly pale complexion is not too unnatural, or -for Nolans purposes-unrealistic.
some of the creepiest passages in the comics I read as a kid, were where the Joker was impersonating someone- a delivery man, cop, etc- no white face, no green hair. Just the physical structure of his face- and the fact that he had obviously circumvented efforts to be on the look out for him.
25 years ago, Poltergiest was released and that remains one of the scariest movies I ever remember seeing- and that was PG. Would love to see them present the character as terrifying. The best thing they could do is to have news stories playing up the fact this 'isn't a movie for children'. They need a version of the Joker character out there that can honestly give most kids nightmares. there are plenty of sanitized versions of the character out there in other media for the consumption of those under 12- to keep the adult audience that gave the first film its legs- they need to make a clear distinction with this material.
Hard to accomplish that. Probably a bigger nod goes to the writing of BB. 
