El Joker is, without a doubt, the best known villain of all the movie or comic sagas of the DC universe. So much so that this character has been represented in different films brought to the big screen and even has its own dedicated film in which we can learn about his story in depth. Therefore, we could say that Joker is a character with "different faces", being represented by each of the actors who have given him life. In this article compiled each of the profiles that encompass the figure of the Joker.
Who is the Joker?
If you are in this article, it is more than likely that you know it, but if not, we present it to you. It is, as we have already indicated, one of the best known villains of the history of cinema and the world of comics. It is also known as Joker or Joker in different countries.
This figure was created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson, coming to life and popularity when he was introduced to the DC Universe comics in 1940 as the Batman's quintessential enemy and one of Gotham City's biggest criminals. Joker has changed over the years, but these are simple adaptations or improvements with a common base: a psychopath dressed as a clown, with a sadistic and difficult to understand humor, twisted and, of course, a killer through and through. head.
All the faces of the Joker
Now that you know a little more about this character, it's time to find out which actors have put a face on and given life to this evil jester both in movies released in theaters and in television series.
César Romero
Interpreted by César Romero, the Joker appeared in the Batman series broadcast on television in the years 1966 to 1968. Romero was one of the first actors to put a face to this villain and, although it is perhaps the most cartoonish interpretation of all according to many fans, he triumphed before all the audience that sat in front of the screen. A very curious detail about this, and that we can see in the attached photograph, is that this actor flatly refused to shave his mustache before playing Joker, so they had to thoroughly cover it with makeup.
If you want to know a bit about César Romero's work in the Batman series, you can take a look at this interesting video about it:
Jack Nicholson
Many cannot conceive of thinking about the Joker without imagining the interpretation made by Jack Nicholson in the batman movie in 1989 directed by Tim Burton. This performance is considered one of Nicholson's all-time best and the one that got his career off the ground again. This actor knew how to take the character in his own style, without forgetting his darkness and irrationally sadistic humor, and despite the fact that he had competition for the role: other actors such as Willem Dafoe, David Bowie, James Woods or Brad Dourif (who was the director's favorite only Warner was not convinced), but finally those responsible for the tape considered that Nicholson would be the ideal character to bring him to life.
You can see a small part of the great work done by Jack Nicholson as the Joker in the official trailer for Batman in 1989:
Mark Hamill
Before Heath Ledger or the last great Joker with Joaquin Phoenix, we have the young Luke Skywalker at the controls of the main villain against whom Batman has been fighting tooth and nail for decades. And no, we are not talking about participations putting his face, but only the voice. In the batman animated series, in the 90's, the actor played the king of villains and many of the phrases he said there became popular.
What's more, his extraordinary performance in that cartoon series was so marked that, years later, in 2009, he returned to embody the role of villain putting the voice of the Joker of the great Batman Arkham Asylum, a game that launched a hugely successful franchise just over a decade ago. But the collaboration did not end there, because in subsequent installments of the video game he continued to set the tone for the interpretation of the most hated clown in the world of DC comics, both in Batman Arkham City as in Batman arkham knight.
Troy Baker
Troy Baker is one of the most famous voice actors in the world of video games, with such stellar roles as that of The Last of Us where he gets into the skin of Joel himself. Those responsible for the saga Batman Arkham Asylum, Rocksteady, always used Mark Hamill for the role of Joker, but in Batman Arkham Origins Warner Bros GamesMontreal it was decided to change the voice of the villain giving the role to Troy Baker.
Of course, whenever we talk about these actors, we refer to the english versions of the game, that you can always activate it in the menus with Spanish subtitles to enjoy true first-rate interpretive work.
Heath Ledger
The actor Heath Ledger, together with Nolan as director, they knew how to turn the story of batman in The Dark Knight and of course the look of the evil Joker. A much more gloomy and dark figure, with a manic and disturbing personality. The only negative thing we can say on this occasion is how sad it was that Heath died so young and before the movie was even released in theaters. Thanks to his great performance, the actor won a posthumous Oscar as well as a place on the list of the best Jokers ever seen on the big screen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrXP6TYK8rY&ab_channel=MovieclipsClassicTrailersMovieclipsClassicTrailersVerificada
Being the only image that we can remember of the role played by the actor Heath Ledger, you can watch the trailer of the film batman in The Dark Knight on these lines.
Jared Leto
The performance of Jared Leto playing the Joker in the movie of Suicide Squadron It is perhaps the most controversial of all. We could classify it as the craziest, most disturbing and out of place of all, thus becoming an awkward moment to watch at certain moments in this film.
Although he is not the most popular face of the Joker, you can learn a little more about Jared Leto's interpretation in the official trailer for el Suicide Squad:
Cameron monaghan
A character similar to the Joker could also be seen in the Gotham series and was played by Cameron Monaghan. And we say he wasn't the Joker because he couldn't be. for a matter of copyright and rights, although in reality it was for all purposes (characterization, personality, etc.). A Warner Bros series dedicated to the life of Bruce Wayne before he became Batman. It took five seasons of this series until we could put a face to the character thanks to this actor. A very sinister figure, almost psychopathic and with a mutilated face.
Despite the fact that the figure of Cameron Monaghan took so long to appear in this series, the performance was masterful. If you want to see a bit of her, you can take a look at one of the scenes in the following video:
Zach galifianakis
The importance of 3D animated films are experiencing a moment of splendor and those related to LEGO are some of the most successful ones. In one of those productions, based on the winged character from DC Comics, Warner had to look for someone who would give him his soul, his personality and his voice, and what better performer than Zach Galifianakis, whom you've seen in comedies like The Hangover.
Exaggerated, strange, mysterious and unreliable. That's how well the character from North Carolina turned out that, at the moment, he does not seem to have plans for future projects embodying the Gotham superhero.
Joaquin Phoenix
Thanks to the incredible success, as we already mentioned on several occasions, the decision was made about this character to dedicate a exclusive film to tell his story. To tell it, the chosen actor was Joaquin Phoenix, who had to take care of showing the most realistic and human part of Joker. How a man with mental problems, poor, alone and on the lowest scale of society, ends up taking his situation as an excuse to commit all kinds of evil things that go through his head.
Perhaps the role played by Joaquin Phoenix was one, if not the most, of the most complex faces of this crazy clown. Without a doubt, his interpretation was masterful and praised by most of the public. So much so that they led him to win the Oscar for best actor of 2020. If you want to know a little more about the role played by this actor, you can see the official trailer for this film:
Extra: Barry keoghan
Well, Barry Keoghan hasn't officially brought the character to life yet, but he has taken it upon himself to put himself in his shoes for a movie. How is that possible? Well, because he has played the enemy of the Batman in a scene from The Batman, by Matt Reeves, which was eventually eliminated and never saw the light of day on the big screen. Even so, the image was uploaded to the internet by Warner itself, confirming in this way that, although it has not been included in the footage, the next thing we would have to see from Reeves will be a tape with Joker as the main villain and with Keoghan as his new (and disturbing) face.
These are all the actors, so far, who have been in charge of bring the joker to life. Now we would like to ask you a question: if you had to choose, what would be your favorite performance of the most popular villain in the DC universe? We, despite the fact that they all seem masterful, we have to stay with two: Joaquin Phoenix and Heath Ledger. Don't you think?
The real name of the Joker
The most interesting thing about all this is that after many years of seeing how a dozen actors have played the famous Batman villain, none have used the character's real name. After 80 years appearing in comics and movies, it wasn't until 2022 that DC wanted to clarify a certain detail of the character's biography. He has been at number #5 of FlashpointBeyond, where it has been revealed that the true name is Jack Oswald White, a revelation that Martha Wayne manages to extract after forcing a psycho-pirate to reveal the mystery of identity.
That said, the names of Jack Napier and Arthur Fleck were left behind, names that had permeated the different movies, but which will finally be forgotten to finally implant the real name of the worst enemy (or one of the worst ) from Batman.