Penn Was Joker Favorite

[Walter Cronkite]

Sean Penn was the first choice to play Batman's biggest foe, The Joker, in the Batman Begins sequel, according to internet reports. Top Batman fansite Batman-on-Film.com reports Penn was offered the role ahead of Heath Ledger, who will play the villain in The Dark Knight - but he turned the part down. Penn's good friend Jack Nicholson played The Joker in the first 1989 Batman movie.

Source: IMDB.com