Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan are absolutely right about one recurring villain problem for the Heath Ledger's Joker. As Bale noted in an interview with GQ, Nolan was acutely aware of a problem that many versions of Batman have suffered because of its villains, and he made avoiding this issue one of his central aims when making the trilogy.
Recalling his work on The Dark Knight trilogy in a GQ interview, Bale revealed "When Chris and I first sat down, we said, you know what the problem with Batman is, it's that the villains are always more interesting, right? And so Batman actually, he's very close to being a villain himself. So let's never let him become dull by comparison." As Bale highlights, a common Batman movie villain problem is that, because of the complexity and memorability of so many Batman villains, there is a risk that the protagonist might be overshadowed, or the audience lose sympathy for his cause.
Why Batman Having Such Good Villains Becomes A Movie Problem
One problem with having such intriguing villains is that the protagonist can become, in Bale's words, "dull by comparison." While it is natural and common for a movie's villain to outshine its protagonist, the hero (or Batman's movie villains should not become more sympathetic than the protagonist - whatever the villain's complexities and justifiable motives.
How The Dark Knight Perfectly Avoids The Batman Villain Problem
The Dark Knight is a perfect example of how to avoid and utilize this problem provided by Batman villains. Heath Ledger's Joker is one of the most memorable villains in cinematic history, let alone in a Batman film, and Nolan used the strength of this villain to his advantage throughout The Dark Knight. While The Joker terrorizes many citizens and political figures across Gotham, he is obsessed with Batman. As famously highlighted in the Dark Knight's interrogation scene - "you complete me" - Nolan ensures that The Joker is consistently defined through and against Bale's Batman.
Though The Joker is given abundant screen time without Batman, it is made clear in these scenes that the masked vigilante is his chief opposition and central focus. By doing so, Nolan is able to portray such a memorable villain as The Joker while ensuring Batman is never completely overshadowed. Moreover, by placing the relation and similarities between Batman and The Joker at the forefront of the narrative, Nolan accentuates their moral differences - most obviously Batman's refusal to take a life - and ensures Batman becomes the more sympathetic figure. Like Matt Reeves' portrayal of Riddler in The Batman, who idolizes and obsesses over Batman, Nolan's depiction of The Joker perfectly avoids Batman's villain problem and ensures the protagonist isn't fully overshadowed by The Joker, however brilliant the character and Ledger's performance are.
