I don't get this... The legacy of Joker in Batman is bigger than HL's life, with all due respect. You can't compare a person's life to fictional character's "legacy" but seriously, without Joker, how good a Batman movie would be? Not as good. How good would have "The Dark Knight" been without Joker? Not nearly as good, not even close. I am just not sure, if "doing nice gesture to HL" would be what HL really wants anyway for Batman fans fully expecting Joker to return. Don't get me wrong, I love HL's Joker, I don't think anyone can beat his performance but at the same time, doing "nice gesture" to him by eliminating Joker character from Batman is lame... Without Joker, I'm not gonna be ecstatic about the next Nolan's Batman movie.