Heath Ledger's fans call for retirement of Joker from future Batman movies

Washington, Feb 13 (ANI): Late Aussie actor Heath Ledger's fans have made a motion for The Joker to be retired from all future Batman movies as a mark of respect to the star.

Ledger, who died from an accidental drug overdose in January 2008, was posthumously nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of the comic book villain in The Dark Knight.

His fans insist that no one else can ever play The Joker better, and have invited other fans to visit website TheUltimateJoker.com and to add their names to a petition calling for movie studios to remove The Joker from future Batman movies.

The online petition was launched last week and it already has about 2,500 names on its list.

"We are Batman fans from the comics and from the movies (sic)," Contactmusic quoted Argentine fan Fer Barbella, who is one of the masterminds behind the site, as telling CNN.com.

"After we saw The Dark Knight, we thought this Joker was really the best. It deserves to be withdrawn from any Batman sequels," Barbella added. (ANI)