Christopher Nolan’s second Batman film The Dark Knight drags on for too long, adds so much unnecessary “gravitas” and nonsensical plot MacGuffins about technology, and was generally kind of hard to follow at points. But between Health Ledger’s Oscar winning performance and the utter brutality of the character, the film’s Joker is and will remain one of the most iconic villains in cinema history. The early scene where he fatally slashes a gangster named Gambol while his three lieutenants are forced to watch while held at gunpoint by Joker’s street punks is wicked enough, but what’s implied to happen next is downright demented: As he’s breaking a pool cue, the Joker goes on about how his operation is expanding and he’s looking to add more men to his small army of murderous rogues. But he’s currently only got room for one more, so he’s holding “auditions.”
Since this is a largely bloodless big budget PG-13 movie, the scene ends by leaving it to the viewer’s imagination about what happened next, though the implication is clear enough as the Joker tosses a broken cue in between Gambol’s three guys and tells them to make it quick as he exits the room.