Pretty much the moment people got out of the first midnight screenings of The Dark Knight, there has been rampant and almost entirely false speculation about who the villains in the third movie would be. It seems like Christopher Nolan intended to include Heath Ledger's Joker at some point, leaving the character dangling from a roof and very much alive at the end of The Dark Knight. Obviously that plan was derailed by Ledger's death, but some had speculated that another actor might play the Joker in the very beginning of the film, just to provide closure on the character.
While Nolan is still as tight-lipped as ever about plans for the film, he did finally answer the Joker question in an interview with Empire Magazine (via Obsessed WIth Film). Asked if he would re-cast The Joker for an appearance in Batman 3, Nolan said
“No”, says Nolan emphatically and unhesitatingly. He resists elaborating simply because, quite understandably, he says, “I just don’t feel comfortable talking about it”.
Granted, Nolan doesn't feel comfortable talking about much of anything as it relates to Batman 3, since he hasn't even confirmed that he'll direct it. This won't put an an end to the endless rumors about who might play Catwoman or The Riddler, but at least we now know that The Joker is fully put to rest, embodied iconically forever by Ledger.
