Before we go on, make sure you read this beautiful tribute The Dark Knight writer/director Christopher Nolan wrote for the late, great Heath Ledger for Newsweek:

Charisma as Natural as Gravity

I still get choked up every time.

ShoWest, a big movie industry convention where studios show off upcoming films to theater owners, happened this week in Las Vegas, and Warner Bros. showed off the prologue to The Dark Knight which shows The Joker’s big bank heist and features a delightfully odd and wholly creepy performance by Ledger.

Having seen it in front of an IMAX print of I Am Legend, I have to say that I was massively blown away.

In this Associated Press article about the convention, Nolan assured the audience that Ledger’s tragic death wouldn’t affect the presentation of his performance in the film:

“I think he’d be very pleased to see we’re just moving ahead as is,” Nolan said. “If you try to honor somebody, you honor them by respecting their work and putting it out there for as many people to see. He was immensely proud of the work he did on the film. I feel a great burden to present that in an undistorted form.”

Batman himself, Christian Bale, added this:

“I hope that this can be seen as a celebration of his work,” Bale said. “He did a phenomenal job. It was a real joy working with the man. It was a joy knowing him, as well. I liked him a great deal, and I liked also how seriously he took his work.”

It’s going to be amazing. Bittersweet, but amazing.

Let’s all honor Heath on July 18.