Batman (originally referred to as the Bat-Man and still referred to at times as the Batman) is a fictional comic book superhero co-created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger (although only Kane receives official credit) and published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). Batman's secret identity is Bruce Wayne, a wealthy industrialist, playboy, and philanthropist. Witnessing the murder of his parents as a child leads him to train himself to physical and intellectual perfection and don a bat-themed costume in order to fight crime. Batman operates in the fictional Gotham City, assisted by various supporting characters including his sidekick Robin and his butler Alfred Pennyworth, and fights an assortment of villains influenced by the characters' roots in film and pulp magazines. Unlike most superheroes, he does not possess any superpowers; he makes use of intellect, detective skills, science and technology, wealth, physical prowess, and intimidation in his war on crime.

Batman became a popular character soon after his introduction, and eventually gained his own title, Batman. As the decades wore on, differing takes on the character emerged. The late 1960s Batman television series utilized a camp aesthetic associated with the character for years after the show ended. Various creators worked to return the character to his dark roots, culminating in the 1986 miniseries Category: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - , by writer-artist Frank Miller. The success of director Tim Burton's 1989 film Batman also helped to reignite popular interest in the character. A cultural icon, Batman has been licensed and adapted into a variety of media, from radio to television and film, and appears on a variety of merchandise sold all over the world.

Heath Andrew Ledger (April 4, 1979 ? January 22, 2008) was an Australian television and film actor considered one of the most-promising talents of his generation before his accidental death at 28. After performing roles in Australian television and film during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to develop his movie career further, acting in 19 films, including such critical and box-office successes as 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), The Patriot (2000), Monsters Ball (2000), A Knight's Tale (2001), Brokeback Mountain (2005), and The Dark Knight (2008). In addition to his work as an actor and as a producer and director of music videos, he also aspired to be a film director.

For his portrayal of Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain, Ledger won the 2005 New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor and the 2006 "Best Actor" award from the Australian Film Institute and was nominated for the 2005 Academy Award for Best Actor and the 2006 Best Actor award from the BAFTA, as well as won an MTV Movie Award with Jake Gyllenhaal, for their "best kiss" in the film. He also received several award nominations for his work in Two Hands (1999), 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), A Knight's Tale (2001), Ned Kelly (2003), and Candy (2006). Posthumously, on February 23, 2008, he shared the 2007 Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award with the rest of the ensemble cast, the director, and the casting director of the film I'm Not There, in which he plays a fictional character named Robbie Clark based on a stage in the life of Bob Dylan.

A few months before his death, Ledger had finished filming his widely-praised penultimate performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight. At the time of his death, he had also completed about half of the work for his final performance, the role of Tony in Terry Gilliams forthcoming film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.