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From Friday’s The Oklahoman:

By Matthew Price

Assistant Features Editor

The promotion for “The Dark Knight,” the latest Batman film, has been pervasive.

 Walking through Quail Springs Mall in anticipation of Thursday night’s movie preview, one encounters the smiling Joker peeking from multiple store windows. T-shirts featuring the visage of the late Heath Ledger, who plays the Joker in “The Dark Knight,” are joined by shirts with the classic look of the DC Comics character. It’s impossible to escape: It’s Batman weekend.  

As the chain doors come down on the stores, locking the Jokers inside, more begin filing in from the parking lot. There’s a smattering of Bat-symbols, but many Heath Ledger Jokers gaze from fans’ clothing.  

It seems the dark edge of “The Dark Knight” drew many fans to the midnight screening Thursday.  

Kyle Schmidt, 24, of Bethany had been planning to see the Batman sequel “since they showed the Joker card at the end of the first one.”

 Schmidt likes the depiction of Batman developed by director Christopher Nolan.  

“They make it seem real,” he said. “It could almost actually happen.”  

Ledger’s new take on the Joker was the draw for Matt Hollingsworth, 24, of Edmond.

 “From seeing the previews, Heath Ledger has made him so incredibly twisted,” Hollingsworth said. “Jack Nicholson made him fun, but Heath Ledger has made him a villain.”  

Jeremy Sturniolo, 17, of Oklahoma City bought the tickets as a gift for his father.

 He’s been “amazed” by what he’s seen so far of Ledger’s performance. Ledger died in January of what is believed as an accidental overdose.  

Not everyone was there just for Ledger, however.  

“Christian Bale is my lover,” said Brooke Hammer, 23, of Edmond. “He has been since ‘Newsies.’ I have loved Christian Bale since I was literally 5 years old.”