Well, what's the verdict on the new Joker? Bat-pros weigh in

The new interpretation of Batman's nemesis the Joker by Hollywood heavyweight Heath Ledger is causing quite a stir, and the movie's nowhere near the theaters yet.

"Heath Ledger's Joker seems perfectly suited to the dark Gotham City created by Christopher Nolan," says Paul Dini, writer of our beloved "Batman: The Animated Series" and its various offshoots. "He seems more street than any other version of the Joker, with his clownish visage recalling hastily applied graffiti paint rather than chemically dyed skin."

More "street"! Love that! Because if anything, Cesar Romero's Joker was dapper and somehow strangely mannerly. Jack Nicholson matched a lot of that demeanor. And Mark Hamill? Well, he's wasn't too far off the dapper scale, either. Maybe because this latest film is still prequeling the Batlore we know and love so well, that means Joker grows up -- evolves, if you will -- to have a certain degree of sophistication in his purple pinstripes!

And is this younger Joker a little rougher around the edges in other ways, too? Not the degree of wit and humor, according to our Harley Quinn creator? "This Joker doesn't split sides ... he splits skulls," Dini says.

Read more of the commentary at MTV.com. And watch the extended trailer of the movie there, too. (And man-oh-man, BRBTV's just gotta say that Nolan's interpretation of the Caped Crusader, with all of its tone and fury, is just kickin' the crap out of those '90s Batflicks.)

BRBTV News Blog Blip: Over in "Santa Barbara," meanwhile, an old familiar face is returning to daytime TV. Our latter Kelly Capwell, Eileen Davidson, is reprising her role as Ashley on CBS' "The Young and the Restless" on December 28, January 2 and 3.