Warner Bros. confirmed Monday that Heath Ledger will be playing the Joker in The Dark Knight, the next installment of the rejuvenated Batman franchise.

"I'm excited to continue the story we started with Batman Begins," director Christopher Nolan, who has also signed up for the sequel, said in a statement. "Our challenge in casting the Joker was to find an actor who is not just extraordinarily talented but fearless. Watching Heath Ledger's interpretation of this iconic character taking on Christian Bale's Batman is going to be incredible."

So obviously Bale is back on board as the man in heavily armored tights. (Not that it was a surprise--he inked a standard multifilm deal before shooting Batman Begins.)

Yahoonews