Earth Times spoke to Michael Caine, who played Bruce Wayne’s butler and friend, Alfred Pennyworth, in Batman Begins and will reprise the role in next summer’s sequel, The Dark Knight.

In the interview, Caine again expresses his admiration for the work done by Heath Ledger as The Joker:

“The problem was, how do you top Jack Nicholson as the Joker? Heath Ledger plays the Joker and he is fantastic. I couldn’t see how Jack could be topped but he’s at least equal to him. It’s extraordinary. Jack’s Joker was a very nasty old uncle, this Joker is a maniacal, murderous psychopath.

“And when you see the make-up – he looks like he’s mentally gone. He puts the make-up on to disguise himself and then goes and never takes it off again, or washes, so gradually it looks like leprosy. I’m a great fan of Christopher Nolan. I thought ‘Batman Begins’ was the best Batman I’d ever seen. And I think this one will be better than that.”

July 18, anyone?