After finishing his makeup, Martin waddled out with a strange gait that resembled a duck's, swaying side to side.
Before even uttering a word, he broke into a string of high-pitched, bell-like laughter that made everyone's skin crawl once again.
When it came to scaring people, Martin was a pro.
A succubus is still a demon, after all.
Nolan, ever the master of marketing, turned to the cameraman and asked, "Is the camera rolling?"
"It is," the cameraman replied.
"Good. Keep filming," Nolan said, then walked up to Martin.
"Martin, let's try a little scene."
Martin glanced at the camera and instantly understood Nolan's intentions. Marketing genius, indeed, he thought.
"Let's do it, Director!" he replied in a slightly deranged tone.
"This will be a monologue. Improvise freely, okay?" Nolan looked at the "Joker"—no, Martin—and spoke.
"No problem," Martin nodded.
"Then let's begin."
The crew silently gathered around them.
They were terrified, but equally curious!
Even Ben Affleck, the actor playing Batman, joined the circle.
Then, fully dressed as the Joker, Martin curled his lips into a grin.
A sudden surge of evil and madness emanated from his body.
His lips, painted a bright blood red, looked as if they'd just licked fresh blood—or like a gaping maw ready to devour, compelling everyone to instinctively back away.
Neither the relatively familiar Ben Affleck nor the newly acquainted Jonathan Nolan could detect even a hint of the usual Martin in him—he had become someone else entirely.
Martin leaned forward, the red scars slashing across his pale face stretching his grin to his ears. His smile grew more brazen and wild by the second.
He stuck out his tongue, pressing the tip to one corner of his mouth, revealing part of his gums. His eyelids drooped as if lost in thought.
Suddenly, his eyes snapped open. He swept his gaze across the onlookers and, raising a finger to tug at the corner of his mouth, spoke in a warped voice:
"Gentlemen, you're so rich… yet out there, people are starving. Isn't that… unfair?"
He moved his finger to the center of his lips.
"Shhh~! Don't make a sound. I'm the agent of chaos. You know what chaos is? It's fairness."
Then, Martin slowly removed his jacket… then the suspenders of his overalls… and finally, the T-shirt underneath. A wave of stifled gasps rippled through the crowd.
Martin's frame was gaunt, skin hugging bone.
It wasn't the result of some rapid weight-loss regime, but the effect of magic—Martin would never destroy his body for a role.
He twisted his body into a contorted pose, eyes locking on Ben Affleck in the crowd.
"Batman… to them, you're just a freak. Like me. Right now they need you, but once they don't… they'll cast you out. Like a leper. Their morals, their code—it's a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They'll only be good when it's easy. I'll show you… when the chips are down, these 'civilized people' will eat each other. You see, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve."
Ben Affleck shuddered under Martin's gaze. In those deep eyes, he saw nothing but bottomless chaos.
Martin burst into maniacal laughter—twisted, unhinged, and unrestrained.
"And when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object—this is what happens! You… you don't want me to die, do you? Hee hee hee hee!"
Ben instinctively took a step back, as though Martin's stare had stripped him bare and left him freezing in an arctic wasteland.
Nolan broke out in goosebumps.
He wanted Martin to keep going… but had no choice but to stop him.
He couldn't have "Batman" traumatized by "The Joker"—they had a whole film to shoot.
"That's enough!" Nolan called out.
But Martin didn't seem to hear. His voice grew even more deranged as he continued, "You won't kill me. Because of some misguided sense of self-righteousness. And I… I won't kill you. Because you're just too much fun. I think you and I… are destined to do this forever."
F*ck!
Ben Affleck tried to step back again, but at that moment, Martin's eyes shifted—from chaotic to calm—and Ben stopped in his tracks.
Then Martin said softly, "Remember this feeling of fear. Conquer it, and you'll become Batman."
Nolan looked contemplative.
Indeed, Martin had done it on purpose. He didn't want this to be a one-man monologue. Sure, he could completely dominate the scene, but he hoped Ben would show a bit of resistance—that tension would make the film truly shine.
His true monologue wouldn't be in The Dark Knight—but in the real Joker movie.
"God, you're incredible," Nolan walked up and gently draped Martin's clothes over his shoulders. Seeing his ribcage, Nolan's eyes filled with admiration.
At Martin's level, there was no need to go this far for a role—with baggy clothes and a stand-in, they could achieve similar effects.
But he still went for it.
That spoke volumes of Martin's dedication, and how seriously he took the Joker.
"What do you think is the core of the Joker?" Nolan asked curiously.
Martin looked at him with calm eyes and thought for a moment before answering:
"The Joker's distortion stems from inner chaos—no, actually, it's his own order. He robs, but not for money. He kills, but not out of bloodlust. He does it all to rebel against society's rules… He's not some caricature. His uncontrollable laughter isn't just creepy—it carries his rage at the world and a sorrowful disdain for people's ignorance…"
"This character shouldn't only frighten the audience. They must also feel the extreme anguish buried in his heart. He operates by his own logic. Everything he does, he believes is in pursuit of his own sense of justice."
"His repression, his pain, his madness, his recklessness—and his obsession with turning Batman into someone like him—those are just surface-level."
"He's like Don Quixote, charging forward recklessly toward an unattainable dream."
"That… that's the Joker's allure."
"In this society, far too many people are burdened—by education, children, family, work. Everyone has a part of them that wants to lose control and go mad. And the Joker… he resonates with them. Because he does what they want to do, but don't dare to."
As Martin finished, Jonathan Nolan—who had unknowingly drawn close—couldn't help but break into passionate applause.
"Wow. That was amazing. Absolutely amazing."
He felt as if Martin had spoken straight to his soul.
When he first read the script for The Dark Knight, he'd had similar thoughts.
What Jonathan Nolan didn't know… was that everything Martin had just said—was originally his own damn vision in the first place. In the original timeline, he had poured his heart and soul into crafting the Joker's character.