Heath Ledger will be forever immortalized in action figure form

Feb.19, 2008 in Celebrity Nonsense

You know what’s pretty great about being a movie star? Having action figures in your likeness that can carry on your legacy when you die.

Late actor Heath Ledger is set to be immortalized in the form of a toy doll - with his grieving family’s blessing. Ledger had recently finished playing The Joker in the forthcoming Batman film The Dark Knight when he was found dead in his New York apartment last month.

However, only a week after the Aussie star’s funeral, a range of The Joker dolls have been revealed by toy giants Mattel. The action figures are set to be marketed alongside the new movie - tipped to be this summer’s major blockbuster. Two versions of the Heath joker doll will hit stores in May - one comes with a rocket launcher and the second is armed with a knife.

A spokesman for the star’s family says, “Heath was very proud of his work in the film and his family is aware and supportive of the plans for the movie.” Toxicology results released earlier this month revealed Ledger was killed by an accidental overdose of prescribed medications.

That’s pretty cool that his family will most likely allow his likeness to be included in the toy development. I think they’ll be hard-pressed to not meet approvals unless the toy makers decide that the Joker should come with a Kung Fu depression or Amazing Pill Popping Action with some sort of spring-loaded arm. Perhaps even some sort of mechanism for him to foam at the mouth with his cool new Regurgitating Pills Reflux Kit. But that would just be classless.