It seems that a few years later, Paul Bettany and Alan Tudyk also had an idea for a sequel to "A Knight's Tale" that could be done without William Thatcher, following Ledger's death in 2008.

A Knight's Tale' Is a Real Rags-to-Riches Story ... a heartwarming story that centers around a peasant squire named William Thatcher, who masquerades as a knight and takes the jousting world ...

The adaptation is a homage to Brian Helgeland’s 2001 film starring Heath Ledger. Wildly inaccurate, camp for its time, and a silly adventure, it follows William Thatcher, a 14th-century peasant squire ...

Based on the 2001 Columbia Pictures film written and directed by Brian Helgeland (which starred Heath Ledger and Paul Bettany ...