To the left, Kirsten Dunst at the UK premiere of Spider-man 3 on Monday.

To the right, Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight (2008).

UPDATE: Cinematical and SuperheroHype report that The Joker picture is a fake; the Dunst photo, however, is still not.

Here are the first close-up pictures of Aussie actor HEATH LEDGER as THE JOKER, mouth scarring and all.

Is 28-year-old Heath menacing enough as the original Joker, played by Jack Nicholson in the original Batman film?

Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight co-starring Christian Bale, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine is set for a July 18, 2008 release.

The new Batman sequel is titled The Dark Knight and will star Heath Ledger as the Joker (Jack Nicholson played the Joker in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman).  I don’t really see it quite yet but Heath does have the ear-to-ear smile down pat, I’ll give him that.  Let it be known that I would be a terrible casting director but with an updated look, the new Joker could be so fresh, so fiend. (Get it?) Filming could start as early as January 2007…

Christian Bale will reprise his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Christopher Nolan is directing again. Word around town is that Ryan Phillippe will take on the role of Harvey Dent/Two Face.  Maybe this will be the big break his career needs…